Tattered Ribbon
by Nicole M. Tracy
Summary: When Helga's new boyfriend causes a stir in Hillwood, things take a sharp turn for the worse and Helga loses control of everything and even worse, she loses herself. Will Arnold be able to help her recover her sense of worth and discover how amazing she really is? Or will her boyfriend ruin her life forever?
1. Chapter 1

**Edited: One of my readers made an excellent point. The last part I added to this chapter really didn't flow well so I removed it and added it to the next chapter for better flow. I'll watch for that next time and thanks for the heads up. :)**

The chapel was filled to capacity with friends and family for the event. Flowers and arrangements littered the stage near the pulpit, candles glowed gently in the dim light, and beautiful music played quietly from the church's pipe organ. Tears hung in the eyes of the patrons as they made their way to the pews. Arnold inhaled a sharp, shaky breath as he used the mirror in the near empty hallway to straighten his bow tie.

"This is it." He whispered to himself before running a unsteady hand through his blonde hair. "No turning back." He was startled by a sudden hand on his shoulder.

"You ready for this?" Gerald asked his best friend with a pained smile. Arnold turned back to his reflection and continued to smooth the wrinkles from his best suit.

"Not really." He admitted quietly. "I've been dreading this day for the past two weeks, but there's nothing that can be done now. It's too late."

Gerald squeezed Arnold's shoulder reassuringly. "It's ok, man. We're all behind you on this. You know that, don't you?"

Arnold turned from the mirror to face his friend before answering, "Of course I do. It really means a lot to me that you guys all came."

"Are you kidding?" Gerald accused jokingly, "We wouldn't have missed this for the world."

"You ok, Short Man?" Grandpa Phil peeked his head out of the doorway. "People are starting to wonder where you ran off to. We're about to start now."

"I'm fine, Grandpa. I'll be there in a second."

"Can I have a quick word with my grandson?" Phil asked turning his attention to Gerald.

The teen gave a quick thumbs up. "Sure thing, Grandpa. I'll see you guys in there." Gerald hurried in to find a seat and Arnold returned to his reflection to straighten his tie once more, light reflecting gently off the pink satin.

"Poor confused kid, thinks I'm his grandpa." Phil mumbled to no one in particular.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this Grandpa." Arnold muttered honestly. "I don't know if I can do this."

"Sure you can, Arnold. Sure you can." Phil assured him. "It's like the advice my father always gave me: Never eat raspberries." Arnold wasn't sure what that had to do with the given situation and didn't get a chance to ask as his grandfather continued, "You can do it Short Man. Just take a deep breath and muster all the courage you possibly can. No matter what happens, your grandma and I are here for you."

"Thanks, Grandpa." Arnold replied meekly. Phil smiled and went back into the chapel while Arnold gathered what strength he could. He took a few deep breaths before grabbing the bouquet of flowers he'd brought with him and pushed open the chapel doors.

It seemed like everyone turned to gawk at him. He kept his eyes glued to the floor making a quick glance every now and then to another teary face as he slunk up the aisle. His shoulders stooped as he trudged to the front of the chapel and plopped haphazardly into his empty seat in the first pew.

Grandpa pulled him close for a quick hug as the preacher rose from his place on the stand and approached the pulpit. He paused for a moment as the quiet chatter ceased, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of someone taken from us far too soon. A bright scholar, a good friend , a sweet sister and a loving daughter. Our very own Helga Geraldine Pataki."

3 Months Earlier-

"Ha!" Helga snarled from behind the catcher's mask. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if you were standing 10 feet in front of it!"

Arnold rolled his eyes bitterly and waited patiently for the pitcher to do his job. He watched the pitcher give a small nod before hurling the ball. Arnold swung for the second time, missing it completely.

"Nice job Football Head. Maybe you should adopt a hobby more your speed, like ballet." Helga scoffed watching as the ears of the young man in front of her turned a signature shade of scarlet.

"Come on Arnold!" Gerald shouted from the bench, "Focus!"

Arnold took a deep breath before taking stance again, the bat barely hovering over his shoulder. He tightened his grip as he watched one side of the subtle conversation between Harold, who stood smugly on the pitcher's mound, either shaking or nodding quietly and Helga who kept herself busy by throwing small clods of dirt at the elongated head in front of her.

"Yeah, Arnoooold!" Harold cooed, "Pay attention so you don't disgrace your friends!" He laughed loudly, shaking his oversized gut like the red gelatin that stained his white shirt.

"Just throw the ball, Harold." Arnold grumbled preparing for the inevitable pitch.

"Fine, fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch, Arnoooold!" Harold stood still for a moment before winding up for the pitch.

Arnold watched carefully as Harold swung his arm across his chest, releasing the large, white speeding bullet. He held his breath and stood perfectly still for what seemed like an eternity before releasing like a slingshot pulled back to its limit. Everyone watched with bated breath as Arnold swung hard, eliciting an ear-splitting crack as the ball and bat connected. All the occupants of the Gerald Field lot watched as the ball flew over everyone's heads and straight for Eugene, playing center field.

"Eugene! You'd better catch that ball or I'll force feed it to you!" Helga screamed at the bumbling redheaded boy.

"I've got it! I've got it!" Eugene declared joyfully as he ran backwards, keeping an eye on his prize. Eugene lowered his mitt just in time to catch a small gopher hole with his cleat, trip backwards and feel the bone-crushing force of a baseball hitting terminal velocity against his skull.

Both teams 'Oo'ed in collective pain felt for Eugene and the very real concussion he'd likely have.

"I'm okay..." He mumbled as the ball came to a halt near him.

"Nice job, Football Head." Helga mocked while watching Arnold's face fall. "Good thing he already has a metal plate in his head otherwise he'd be visiting the morgue instead of the hospital."

Arnold trotted to where Eugene lay in the grass and knelt beside his long time friend.

"Eugene. Eugene!" Arnold called shaking the dazed and confused jinx.

"Oh hi Arnold. Wow, I didn't know you were a triplet."

Arnold frowned. "Game over guys." He called to his friends, "We'd better take Eugene to the hospital."

"Oh no, Arnold...and, Arnold's brothers," He added with a slight pause, "I'll be just fine. I can always use my life alert bracelet if I really need to. I just need to go home and lie down."

"Are you sure?" Arnold inquired skeptically as the other team members gathered around the two of them.

"Oh absolutely, this happens all the time."

"Come on Eugene." Sheena cut in. "I'll walk you home."

"Wow, Sheena, that's so nice of you. See you later guys!" Eugene hollered as he stumbled away, leaning against the brunette for support.

Arnold stood up, holding the ball loosely in his fingers, staring in the direction Sheena and Eugene had gone.

"Don't feel bad, man. This sort of thing always happens to Eugene." Gerald said nonchalantly in an attempt to comfort his friend.

"Yeah," Stinky added in a thick drawl, "On account of Eugene being a jinx and all."

"Well, I'm blowing this popsicle stand." Helga announced with an air of finality. "Come on Pheebs."

"Coming!" Phoebe chirped scurrying to collect her things. "Gerald, are you coming over to my house tonight? I still have the final touches of my science project to complete. I could use some assistance if you care to join me."

Gerald smiled, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks. He and Phoebe had only been dating for a couple weeks and he still felt a little shy about the whole thing.

"I'd love to help, but aren't you hanging out with Helga tonight?"

"Oh not at all. Helga is going to some social function this evening."

"Popsicles. That reminds me. I'm so hungry!" Harold whined.

"Whoa, Helga has a social life?" Sid leered.

"I'm going clubbing dipshit, not that it's any of _your_ business."

"Don't you have to be 18 to even get into clubs?" Arnold asked, handing the ball to Harold.

"I'm not interested in going to any of those sissy clubs, Arnoldo. I'm going to The Shack."

"But isn't that one of those '21 and over' clubs that serves alcohol?"

"Your point?"

"You're 17, Helga.

"Look Football Head," Helga snapped jabbing her addressor in the chest with her index finger, "the day I take moral advice from you is the day Hell freezes over. Fuck off." Helga stormed away as the group stared at her disappearing figure.

Arnold," Gerald griped as the two walked back from the field, "Why Do you always have to set Helga off like that? Why can't you just let it be?"

"I don't know." The blonde admitted, "I just can't help it." Arnold rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Even though I know she hates my guts, I still feel protective of her, like I do with all my friends."

"Why do you suppose that is?" Gerald responded curiously, watching Arnold out of the corner of his eye.

"I-I don't know. I just don't want her to get hurt, you know?" Gerald raised a lone brow, but said nothing as Arnold continued. "I mean, yeah she makes fun of me and throws stuff at me and still torments me even in our senior year of high school, but I still want to help her."

"You're a bold kid, Arnold. I don't understand you, but you're a bold kid."

"Thanks Gerald. I'll see you at school Monday. have fun at Phoebe's."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks man. See you tomorrow."

The music was ear-splittingly loud, just the way Helga liked it. Some weird, Euro-trance blared over the speakers while lights flashed and twirled with the beat. Helga grabbed a vodka test tube from a random table and threw back the contents, making a slight face as the alcohol burned her throat. She leaned comfortably against a wall watching the crowd scream in delight as the DJ changed the song to something that, Helga could only assume, must have been popular.

"Here again?" A voice next to Helga commented casually. Helga didn't have to look up to know who it was. The guy had talked to her many times in the past since she had started coming here. Not that she had ever responded to his questions.

"What's it to you?"She growled glaring at the guy out of the corner of her eye as he leaned beside her, hands in his black, leather jacket pockets.

"Nice to see you too, babe." He replied with a smirk.

"Fuck off."Helga hissed.

The man laughed at her response. He found Helga's callous and aloof behavior rather refreshing compared to the slutty bimbos who practically threw themselves at his feet. Her defenses would be tough to penetrate, but he had always enjoyed a challenge.

"My name's Reggie." He offered his hand in greeting.

Helga looked at his outstretched hand, then up at him, looking him square in the eye before turning her gaze back to the crowd, rejecting his hand. "So you've said before. What do you want a medal?"

"Maybe. I think this is the most conversation we've ever had."

Helga rolled her eyes in mild annoyance.

"You're not going to give me _your_ name?" Reggie asked in an amused tone.

"Have I the last twelve times you've asked?"

"But the thirteenth time's the charm." He replied with a smoldering grin that would have made most girls knees buckle. Helga merely smiled in vague amusement then covered it up with a cough. "Ok, no name, how about a dance?"

"Psh!" Helga snorted, "Not likely."

"I wasn't talking about with me. You probably couldn't dance anyway with how far that stick is shoved up your ass." Reggie replied, changing tactics.

He knew that had worked when he felt himself being slammed up against a wall. "Excuse me?" Helga seethed maliciously.

"Aw, did I hit a nerve, 'Stick-butt'?"

"The name's Helga G. Pataki! And don't you forget it!"

"Helga G. Pataki," Reggie repeated, "What does the 'G' stand for?"

"None of your goddamn business." Helga spat before dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

"Well, that proves it then." Reggie mumbled loud enough for Helga to hear.

"What proves what?" She asked, daring him to insult her.

"You most definitely can't dance."

"Oh yeah? How's this for dancing!" Helga shouted throwing a punch at him. Reggie grabbed her arm and spun her so she was facing away from him.

"Hey! What the hell? Let go of me!"

"No way!" Reggie replied twirling her out and starting to tango with her to music that was obviously not meant for that kind of dancing and the people around them began taking notice.

Helga blushed angrily. "You're either drunk, or really fucked up." She growled as he dipped her.

"Probably the later considering I haven't had much to drink tonight."

"Wonderful. Just what I wanted to hear." Helga said sarcastically as he sped up the tempo to closer match the beat of the techno now playing.

"What are you doing?" Helga snarled covering up an amused laugh.

"Dancing!" Reggie replied as if the answer should have been obvious.

Helga choked back a laugh as Reggie spun her out and back to him so she was once again pressed against him and facing away.

Then as suddenly as he had started a tango, he began to dance in a fashion more appropriate for The Shack.

Helga found herself dancing with him. She had to admit it was much more fun than leaning against the wall all evening, as per usual.

After a quick break for a few more drinks, Reggie and Helga were back out on the dance floor. After a while Helga felt herself getting a little queasy. She had never considered whether or not she would be able to handle her liquor well with the strenuous activity she was performing tonight.

She felt a bead of sweat forming on her forehead as Reggie dragged her away from the dance floor and out onto the balcony for some fresh air.

"You look terrible." Reggie smiled.

"I'll be fine, Jackass. Thanks for asking." She retorted sarcastically, "Just give me a minute." Helga slurred slightly as she clung to Reggie's arm to steady herself. Suddenly her legs gave out and She flopped right into Reggie's chest. He steadied the blonde for a moment while she found her legs again and was able to stand.

"S-sorry." She mumbled, not really thinking about it.

"You should be." Reggie teased, "You're getting makeup all over my favorite shirt."

Reggie ran a hand through his brown hair before looking back to Helga. She was giving him a strange look, as if she had just barely noticed he was there. He gazed back at her for a moment before she promptly threw up on his shoes.

Helga gurgled the mouthwash she kept in her purse before spitting it out on the road.

"How are your shoes?" She asked Reggie, replacing the cap and hiding the small bottle back in her bag.

"Well, they've been better, that's for certain. I'll take them to get cleaned in the morning."

"Aw, poor baby." Helga mocked.

"Baby? I'm not the one who can't hold her liquor." Reggie shot back.

"Well, I'm not the one covered in 'spit up'." Helga retorted.

Reggie opened his mouth to reply, then closed it after a second. "Touché."

They leaned up against the bumper of his car in silence for a moment before Helga noticed Reggie was staring at her. She turned to chew him out, but before she could say anything he covered her mouth with his.

Helga felt a jolt of surprise shoot up her spine causing her to gasp. He took the opportunity to kiss her harder and deeper. She could taste the alcohol still on his breath as his tongue slid over hers. Helga grabbed onto the front of his jacket with both hands and pulled him closer acting purely on her carnal senses and the alcohol coursing through her system. Reggie grabbed a handful of her hair in his hand and with the other he slide his hand up the back of her shirt just enough to feel her warm skin underneath. She moaned in his mouth before releasing her death grip on his jacket to run her hands through his short, brown hair.

Reggie pulled away and looked over Helga's face for a moment. "Hey, what's say you and I go somewhere a little more...private."

"Eh," Helga agreed, "Why not." Reggie released her and ushered her into his car.

"My apartment isn't far from here." He continued. "We shouldn't be disturbed there."

"Are you good to drive?" Helga asked as they sped out of the parking lot.

Reggie turned to face her with a wide grin. "Don't worry about it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for the warm reception guys. :) I'm really excited about this story and I've made a conscious decision to not work on any other fictions until Tattered Ribbon has the final chapter up. I have a few ideas for another one, but I don't want this one to die off because I'm working on something else.**

**Also, one of my readers made an excellent point that the now former last part of the first chapter didn't really flow well with what was going on, so in case you missed my note, for continuity's sake, I removed that part and it is now the first part of this chapter. Thanks for catching that, hun ;)**

8 am, Monday Morning-

Arnold sat quietly at his desk, listening absent-mindedly to Mr. Harrison's ramble on about WWI. The bell had rung fifteen minutes ago and Helga still hadn't shown up. According to Gerald, Phoebe had said she hadn't been home all weekend and her parents were positively livid. Arnold glanced toward her desk, hoping that she had somehow magically materialized since he last looked ten seconds ago. He couldn't help but be worried considering, from what Gerald had said, how worried Phoebe had been all weekend.

Suddenly the door banged open and Helga stumbled in, looking absolutely crazy. Her hair was worn down instead of in her usual pigtails, she wore a black tank top, shiny, leather pants, each ear had three piercings in them, where none had been before, and of course, tied in her hair was her signature pink ribbon. She sauntered in with a smug look on her face before plopping down unceremoniously in her seat, putting her feet up on her desk revealing a pair of black combat boots.

"Miss Pataki, how kind of you to join us." Mr. Harrison scowled. "Put your feet down please."

"Whiney, little bitch." Helga muttered just loud enough for a few students around her to hear, eliciting a few snickers.

"What did you say, Miss Pataki?" The teacher glared suspiciously.

"I said, 'as you wish'." She replied coyly, stretching her feet out under her desk.

Mr. Harrison continued his lecture and Phoebe immediately turned around to face her best friend.

"Helga!" She whispered urgently, "Where were you all weekend? I was so worried!"

"Relax Pheebs," Helga replied waving her hand in a 'poo-poo' motion, "I wasn't anywhere."

"Helga, you had to have been somewhere. You weren't at home, you're parents had no idea where you were and I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Miss Heyerdahl," Phoebe squeaked and spun around upon hearing her name. "if you would like to finish your conversation with Miss Pataki, do it in the principal's office, otherwise, may I continue?"

Phoebe blushed and nodded quietly as she sunk down in her seat.

Helga spent the majority of the class period making snide comments under her breath and throwing the occasional spit wad at Arnold's head. He turned to look at her as yet another slimy, wet wad of paper rebounded off his ear.

"What?" She hissed defensively.

Arnold rolled his eyes and turned back to the front of the room. _'When will she grow up?' _He wondered bitterly.

The bell finally rang and Arnold stood to shake loose the bits of paper caught in his hair when Gerald approached him.

"Is it just me, or is Helga G. Pataki more pissy than usual?" He asked after parking himself on Arnold's desk.

"I honestly haven't noticed." Arnold replied, trying to contain the bitterness to a degree. "You would think that after elementary school she would have matured a little."

"Hardly." Gerald retorted, not with-holding his obvious dislike for the girl. "This is Helga we're talking about. She'll never grow up."

Arnold frowned slightly as they made their way to their next class. "I don't know, maybe you're right."

"So," Gerald perked up, changing the subject, "You still going to Rhonda's party next weekend?"

"I don't know. Grandpa kind of wanted my help repapering the kitchen."

"Come on man! You have to go! This is going to be _the_ party of the year. From what I've heard Rhonda hired a DJ and is going to have the party catered by Chez Paris."

"Well, I'll try." Arnold gave in knowing he'd have to wake up early on a Saturday to finish on time.

"Cool. See you later man." Gerald and Arnold gave each other their handshake before reaching their Biology class with Mrs. Darwin.

"Helga, honestly, where were you this weekend?" Phoebe demanded. "I was really worried about you."

"Relax Phoebe." Helga replied as casual as if she had been flinging another spit wad at Arnold's ridiculous looking head. "I was at my boyfriend's apartment all weekend. He dropped me off at school this morning."

Phoebe's eyes widened in obvious surprise. "Boy-boyfriend?"

"Yeah, boyfriend." Helga closed her locker and moseyed up the hall, knowing Phoebe would match her stride.

"Helga, are we talking about...ice-cream?" She asked hopefully. Helga looked at her strangely before realizing what she was referring to.

"No, we're not talking about Ar-I mean ice-cream. His name is Reggie. He's in college."

Phoebe felt her knees suddenly go weak, but quickly regained composure and caught up to her friend. "You're dating someone in college? Why was I not aware of this?"

"It just sort of...happened. Besides, dating isn't the only thing we're doing." She replied with a smug, knowing grin.

Phoebe felt her face get hot as she tried not to think about what Helga had just implied. "Helga, how long have you known Reggie?"

Helga shrugged. "I've known _of_ him for a few weeks, but we were never really introduced until Friday night."

Phoebe made some incoherent sound before fainting and hitting the floor with a loud thud. Helga continued on, neither noticing nor caring that her friend was no longer beside her.

Gerald and Arnold sat at an empty table while waiting for Phoebe, and consequently, Helga, to join them for lunch. Phoebe approached first, her face pale and a concerned look plastered to her face.

"Phoebe, what's wrong?" Arnold asked matching her frown.

"Um... well..." She hesitated for a moment as she set her tray down and took her seat next to Gerald. "I'm worried about Helga."

"Yeah, that's right. She wasn't home all weekend."

"Precisely. I asked her about it after class. She informed me she had spent the weekend at her...Well... boyfriend's house."

Both Arnold and Gerald stared in shock. "Boyfriend?" Gerald finally snorted, "You're joking, right?"

"No, Gerald." Phoebe answered meekly. "I'm quite serious."

Arnold took note of the anxious look on her face before interrupting her train of thought. "There's more isn't there?"

Phoebe physically jumped at the asked question, spilling milk all over the table. "Y-yes, there is." She said nervously as the trio sopped up the milk with napkins. "They met on Friday. She knows nothing about him and I have a really bad feeling about it."

Gerald and Arnold exchanged concerned glances. If Phoebe was troubled by Helga's recklessness, then it must have been serious.

"You guys look like someone just died." Helga's voice startled the group as she sat down next to Phoebe and plowed into her questionable cafeteria food. "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing!" Phoebe squeaked. She stared at her tray for a moment before pushing it aside. Helga swiped the pudding off of it before returning to her lunch.

Arnold gave her a curious look. Helga was too busy stuffing her face to notice, but Gerald studied his friend's face for a moment. Arnold looked more than concerned, he looked... pained? Gerald couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"So, Helga." Gerald turned his attention to the once unibrowed bully, "Phoebe tells us you have a boyfriend."

Helga shot a quick glare at Phoebe before answering. "What's it to you, bucko?"

"Nothing. Just thought it might be an interesting topic of conversation." Gerald replied nonchalantly, taking a sip of his Yahoo.

"Y-yes. We'd love to know more about Reggie." Phoebe reiterated, giving Gerald a strange look. "You said he's in college. What is his major?"

Helga cast a glance in Arnold's direction, who seemed to not be paying attention to the conversation and, instead, poked at some gray slop on his tray. "Reggie says he's more 'there for the experience'."

"So, he's not actually majoring in anything?" Gerald inquired with a raised brow. Helga glared at him, catching his tone.

"No. He's not. You have a problem with that, Hair Boy?"

"What about employment?" Phoebe asked, taking the heat from her own boyfriend. "Where does Reggie work?"

Helga opened her mouth to answer when a voice interrupted her. "Reggie? Who's Reggie?"

Rhonda stood staring down her nose curiously at the group with Nadine by her side.

"Helga's college boyfriend." Gerald replied casually. Rhonda snorted back a laugh.

"Boyfriend?" She responded incredulously. "Helga G. Pataki has a boyfriend?"

Helga growled and clenched her fists at her side. "Yeah, what's it to you, Toots?"

"N-nothing!" Rhonda answered defensively. "You s-should... bring him to my party next weekend." She added with a mirthful gleam in her eye.

"Yes." Phoebe added, "I would very much like to meet your, uh, boyfriend Helga."

Helga looked between the two girls then shot a glance at Arnold who quickly looked away. She smirked. "Sure, I'll bring him. Maybe I'll even get him to bring some of his friends." She tried to remain casual at the idea and took a sip of her soda to cover up an arrogant smile.

"Well, that would be just lovely! I'll see _you_ next Saturday." Rhonda concluded with an over-dignified air. "Come along, Nadine. _This_ is simply going to be the talk of the school."

By the end of the day the entire school was buzzing with only two topics of conversation: Rhonda's party and Helga's college boyfriend. Helga basked in the envious stares of her high school peers as she made her way to the front of the school to begin her trek home when she heard a voice calling out to her.

"Helga! Wait up!" Helga turned to see an unusual shaped head topped with messy blonde hair bobbing up and down as its owner ran towards her.

"What do you want, Football Head?" Helga scowled with a slight smirk playing on her lips. She couldn't deny the fact that having Arnold chase after her was especially gratifying. She had fantasized about it for years, though it was usually followed by a heartfelt declaration of his love as opposed to: "Can I walk you home?"

Helga shrugged. It was a start. "Whatever floats your boat, Arnoldo." They walked in silence for a moment. Helga chanced a glance out of the corner of her eye. The expression on Arnold's face puzzled her. He seemed to be battling with something. He must have finally reached a decision however, because he opened his mouth to speak again.

"So, a boyfriend huh?" _Stupid!_ Arnold thought. _I couldn't have thought up a better segue?_ Helga's expression remained neutral.

"Yeah, seemed to have grown one recently. What about it?" Arnold rubbed the back of his head nervously for a second before answering.

"Well... nothing I guess. You two must have been together for a while though if you, you know...stayed over." Arnold blushed a little knowing exactly what that implied. Helga, however, merely scowled in mild annoyance, not sure where her companion was going with this .

"Not that it's any of _your_ business, Bucko, but it was kind of a...heat of the moment type of thing."

"Heat of the moment?" Arnold responded, his eyes widening with surprise. "How so?"

Helga stopped suddenly, looking contemplative for a moment. "Reggie is very...persuasive." She said quietly, almost to herself.

Arnold frowned. "Do you know...much about him?" Arnold inquired, choosing his words carefully.

Helga shrugged again and continued walking. "What's there to know?" Helga replied with an indignant smirk.

Arnold frowned again. "You mean you don't know anything about this guy?" He blurted out.

Helga glared at him. "Look, Football Face," Helga hissed jabbing a finger in his chest as she spoke. "It's really none of your concern is it? If 'walking me home' was really just some code word for giving me the third degree, then you can buzz off!"

Arnold held up his hands defensively. "You're right. It's none of my business. I..." Arnold scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Helga. I'm just worried about you." He finished looking up at her apologetically.

Helga felt her heart pound violently in her chest. _Damn him!_ She shouted in her head. _How can he still make me feel like this after all these years!_ Her face softened slightly.

"Forget about it." Helga sputtered out with a flushed scowl after realizing she had been staring. Arnold smiled. They walked up to Helga's stoop and Helga suddenly found immense interest in pulling at a loose thread on her top. Arnold rocked nervously on his toes for a second before releasing a quiet sigh.

"Helga?"

Helga looked up with an uncharacteristically meek look on her face. Arnold realized he had seen that face once before. In fourth grade when Helga thought she had monkeynucleosis and had told him that she thought he was 'ok'. Arnold smiled unconsciously at the memory before remembering that Helga was waiting for him to say something.

"Uh...I'm sorry for giving you a hard time about-um... your boyfriend." He coughed to cover up his nerves. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. I worry about you." He said quietly with a blush.

Helga felt her face heat up at his genuine concern and glanced away shyly before forcing a somewhat annoyed scowl on her face.

"Well, Arnoldo, I appreciate the sentiment, but quite being such a worry wart. I know what I'm doing." She replied with a huff.

Arnold sighed. "Whatever you say, Helga."

Helga pretended to pick at a bit of a hangnail while she watched Arnold walk around the corner and out of sight after which she relaxed her face and smiled shyly.

"Worried? About me?" She placed her hand over her heart as if it would leap out of her chest otherwise. She chuckled softly to herself and absentmindedly reached up to play with a lock of hair. He always managed to do that to her. Always managed to make her entire body heat up and her mind cloud over with complete euphoria. She sighed wistfully as the cool spring air caressed her cheek and gently tousled her hair.

Helga allowed her mind to wander and thought back to how she and Reggie had spent their weekend together. Her smile faded and her expression turned pensive. Had she spent that kind of weekend with Arnold she would have died from joy overload, but with Reggie it had been more of a satiation than anything else. _No_, she thought_, not even that._ Perhaps for Reggie it had been a satiation of his obvious inability to keep his dick in his pants, but for her, it was a release of all the tension she had felt.

She had been fighting with Big Bob all week long. Olga had just gone back to university out of state after a weeklong visit and Helga had now become the center of negative attention, once again being compared to her perfect older sister. Helga scowled. Then Miriam had forgotten her coat at the dry cleaners, _again,_ as well as 'taking a nap' in the middle of making dinner and nearly burning down the house.

Helga growled bitterly. All the mushy feelings from having Arnold walk her home had dissipated and she had once again become overwhelmed with her usual bitter and grumpy attitude. She sighed angrily as she opened the front door.

"Where in the hell have you been, missy!" Bob Pataki yelled in her face the instant she closed the door behind her.

"At school, Bob." She spat his name out with venom, as per usual. Her dad crossed his arms, all of his muscles tensing as his fury heightened.

"Don't act smart, Helga! Where have you been for the last three days!"

Her dad had just called her by her name for once. Helga was astounded and stood quietly recuperating for a moment from the shock. Then her eyes narrowed. _He probably only remembered because Olga the golden child would never have stayed out like that._

"Out." She replied curtly.

"Out where?"

Helga glared. "Just out."

Suddenly Bob's eyes widened. "Are those piercings in your ears?"

"What does it look like to you?" Helga answered defensively. She eyed Bob cautiously, gauging his reaction to her newfound rebellion.

Bob's face turned scarlet. It was going to be a long night.

"Out of my way, Geek Bait!" Helga screeched shoving a freshman into his locker. Arnold's head snapped up towards the source of the noise. Helga stormed angrily down the hallway, leaving students cowering in her wake.

"What's up with Pataki?" Gerald wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure." Phoebe said shakily. "But I think we'd be better off inquiring after she's calmed down."

"Hey Helga!" Arnold called.

"Fuck off!" Helga screamed in his face shoving her middle finger up against the blonde boy's nose before stomping away.

"Arnold. Didn't you hear what Phoebe just said?" Gerald asked incredulously.

Arnold put a shaking hand to his chest to calm himself down. "Oh god. I thought she was going to kill me for a second there."

In her classes, even the teachers noticed something a little off about Helga's attitude and each one decided not to push their luck by asking her to the board.

At lunch Helga had finally seemed to calm down a little and Phoebe decided to breech the subject.

"Helga. I couldn't help but observe that you seem a little...tense at present. Do you want to talk about it?"

Helga's hand screeched to a halt in the process of bringing another forkful of some sort of pasta and meat sauce to her mouth causing the pasta to slide off onto her shirt instead.

Helga grabbed her napkin and scrubbed angrily at the stain, only spreading it around. "No Phoebe. I really don't." She muttered.

"Helga, did something happen after I walked you home yesterday?" Arnold asked trying to keep his attention on Helga's face instead of her slowly inching neckline from her tugging her shirt taut.

"Well that's the funny thing about yesterday, Arnoldo. There are plenty of hours left between after school and now for someone or something to piss me off." Helga growled in resignation, tossing the now crumpled napkin onto her tray.

"So what upset you?" Arnold prodded carefully, noticing that Helga's shirt had yet to right itself and was exposing a small bit of her pink bra. He blushed and looked away. _Remember, you're a gentleman._ He reprimanded himself.

"Nothing. Big Bob and I just got into a fight. That's all." Helga replied finally readjusting her top.

"Usually a fight with your parents wouldn't upset you this much." Phoebe said knowingly. "Was this fight different in some way?"

"You could say that."

Phoebe looked worriedly at her hands for a moment before asking: "Is that why you weren't on the bus this morning?"

Helga shrugged noncommittally.

"Is that why you practically tried to murder Arnold this morning?" Gerald interjected.

Helga froze.

"Gerald!" Arnold coughed, nearly choking on his soda.

"You know what, this conversation is over." Helga spat before picking up her tray and walking away.

The trio watched as Helga tossed the remains of her lunch into the trash and shoved open the cafeteria doors, knocking a student out cold in the process.

"That girl could use some serious humbling." Gerald said with a sigh.

Phoebe shook her head in silent agreement. She would never bad mouth Helga, but Gerald was right. At least in some respects. Helga needed to mature and realize that the whole world isn't out to get her, that she did have friends and people who care about her..._and maybe_, Phoebe thought as she turned to look at Arnold. His face pulled into a look of concern while his eyes remained glued in the direction Helga had gone. _Yes, just maybe..._


	3. Chapter 3

Things seemed to have calmed down after Helga's freak out on Tuesday and by Friday things were pretty much back to normal except for one thing.

Helga seemed to be a little more on edge if at all possible. The littlest thing would make her snap and fly off the handle where as normally a good threat would have sufficed in the given situation.

This morning for example, a Junior named Stephen was dragged into the janitor's closet for a massive pummeling for bumping into Helga by accident. Of course it had mostly been Helga's fault for not paying attention to where she was going, but the poor boy ended up at the mercy of Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers, Helga's affectionately named fists of mass destruction.

Stephen emerged from the closet, his broken glasses dangling from one ear, his shirt collar torn and his eye red and swollen. Phoebe shook her head solemnly as Helga shoved him forward.

"Next time watch where you're going, stupid!" Helga stepped over his crumpled from huddled on the floor and walked passed her friend, who stared at her, speechless.

Class was coming to an end and Helga watched the clock impatiently as the second hand slowly made its way around the stark white face. Helga glared at it, willing it to go faster, but in retaliation the second hand seemed to move slower and seemed to be flipping her off as it did so. Helga growled at it before digging a notebook out of her bag and began doodling lazily.

"So, Helga, how are things with your boyfriend?" Phoebe asked curiously.

Helga turned to face her best friend. "Fine." She replied coolly.

When Helga didn't elaborate Phoebe ventured further. "So, have you gone on any fun dates or anything?"

Helga wiggled her finger in her ear, removing some irritating wax. "Not really." She answered examining her prize before flicking it onto the carpet, "We usually just hang out at ho-" Helga froze for a second before finishing her sentence, "Er- at his apartment." Phoebe didn't seem to notice anything and Helga breathed a sigh of relief.

"That must be a little...redundant."Sheena added overhearing the conversation.

Helga shrugged. "I guess. Not that I care or anything." She answered gruffly.

"Gosh Helga." Lila joined in, "I'm oh so certain that you must just be ever so lucky, dating a college boy and all. It's just ever so cool."

Helga shrugged. "I guess."

Lila frowned slightly as she observed Helga's response. She thought back to her own experiences with being in love and Helga really just didn't seem like she liked Reggie that much. Especially considering how flustered she had been in fourth grade after Lila got Helga to confess her love for Arnold so she could play the role of Juliet in the class play.

Lila smiled a little at the memory.

Helga eyed her nervously for a moment. She didn't trust Lila. Under that sugary, goody-two-shoes exterior that girl was sneaky and far too observant for her own good.

"Yeah, well-" Helga grumbled, crossing her arms, "I don't really feel like talking about this anymore." She turned around in her seat to face the front.

Phoebe frowned. "But Helga, this is the most you've spoken about Reggie since you two started being exclusive. We're all anxious to know more about him, right girls?"

Lila and Sheena nodded eagerly in the affirmative. Helga growled.

"Phoebe, drop it."

"Dropping." She replied meekly.

At lunch, Rhonda and her friends were gossiping anxiously about Helga's worse-than-ever behavior.

"She's a complete monster." Rhonda said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, she certainly does seem ever so frustrated by something." Lila responded with an air of agreement in her voice.

"Frustrated?" Harold repeated. "Are you kidding? I've never seen her this pissed off before! She's scary!"

"You're telling me." Sid agreed. "Boy howdy, she's worse than ever. Did you see the number she pulled on that Junior this morning?"

Stinky nodded. "I reckon you're right, Sid. It's probably in our better interests to avoid Helga like Chocolate Boy avoids brussel sprouts."

"She is _so_ uninvited from my party." Rhonda declared flipping her long, dark hair over her shoulder.

"Er-do you want to be the one to tell her that?" Nadine asked hesitantly.

Rhonda froze. In Helga's less than agreeable state there was no way she was going to push Helga like that. "I'll figure something out." She said knowing all too well that she'd never risk her beautiful, three-time Miss Teen award-winning face to Helga's new found fury.

"Besides, I thought you were looking forward to having some cool college guys show up at the party." Sid stated.

Rhonda groaned. Sid was right. Besides having the delightful opportunity to flirt with an older man, college guys at _her_ party would boost her into super popularity, but why did it have to be Helga?

Helga plopped unceremoniously at her seat between Arnold and Phoebe. She raised her fork high before stabbing it into her meal stirring the contents angrily while a low growl erupted from her throat.

Arnold, Phoebe and Gerald just stared as she continued to stir her food with furious vigor, not sure if they dared say anything.

Arnold finally broke the silence. "Um...Helga? Is something bothering you?"

"Besides you?" She growled, her heated stirring completely unwavering at the sound of his voice. "What makes you think that?"

Arnold stared at her tray for a second before pointing out the fact she was mixing her entree with her dessert.

Helga finally stopped and looked at her food. Taco salad and some poor excuse for Spanish rice intertwined with her tapioca. The thought of eating it just to spite Arnold came briefly to mind. Her stomach churned at the visual and without a second thought Helga pushed her tray away.

"Here." Arnold said offering her his tray.

Helga pushed it back towards him. "I'm not interested in your charity." She hissed, eyeing him angrily.

Arnold pushed the tray back in her direction. "Helga, I'm sharing with you because I want to."

Helga shoved it back. "What are you, deaf? I said I don't want it."

Arnold mirrored her action, pushing the tray back in front of her."Helga, would you just lower your pride for one second?"

Helga gritted her teeth. "I don't want your lunch, Football Head!" She could feel her face flushing in anger. She didn't want his charity, why couldn't he just accept that?

"Helga, quit being stubborn!"

Gerald and Phoebe watched in awe at the speed in which these two were moving in their inflexible battle of wills. The tray continued to be shoved back in forth at an almost lightning fast pace. Gerald could see what was going to happen and carefully helped Phoebe to her feet to prevent any possible shrapnel from rebounding onto her.

Just as he did so, Helga shoved the tray back to Arnold with full force. "I said no!"

Arnold, who had been unprepared for the amount of strength which Helga had used, heard a sickening splat and felt warm liquid soaking through his shirt. The lunch room fell silent. The entire student body had been watching this exchange between Arnold and Helga for the past couple minutes and now sat in shock as the tray clattered to the floor, echoing in the hushed room.

Helga clapped her hands to her mouth, all her anger suddenly evaporating into absolute horror. She sat speechless for a moment as Arnold stared unmoving at his shirt, now dripping with slop.

"Helga..." Phoebe breathed in disbelief.

Helga glanced around, noting the endless sea of faces peering at her. Helga swallowed and turned her attention back to the blonde boy in front of her.

"A-Arnold?" Helga mewed quietly, removing her hands from her face.

"Don't." Arnold growled.

"But-" Helga stammered, "But, I-"

"Save it!" Arnold yelled suddenly leaping from his chair, fists clenched and shaking in a heated rage. Helga closed her mouth. She had never seen Arnold this angry before. "Why?" He demanded, his eyes closed as if opening them would release something terrible. "Why are you like this? Why do you treat everyone, even your own friends like garbage?"

"Arno-" Gerald tried to calm his friend, but was silenced by Arnold's hand thrust up in his direction.

"Why do you keep hurting people?" Arnold opened his eyes to look down at Helga. She quickly cast her eyes downward and clasped her hands together in her lap. "Why are you such a- a horrible person?" Arnold yelled, his voice reverberating off the walls.

Helga's eyes shot up to gape at him. Arnold heard a collective gasp from the students around him and that seemed to be enough to snap him out of whatever dark haze he had been in. He shook his head to clear it away before meeting his eyes met wide blue ones and what he had said finally sunk in, the color drained from his face, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He tried to say something, anything, but his voice caught in his throat making a choking sound.

"Helga." He finally whispered, his voice cracked with a combination of shock from the realization of what he had said and emotion from what he saw in Helga's eyes. Tears. "Helga, I didn't mean...I'm so..." He knew no apology could take back his words. He just watched Helga as she stared at him. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

That was just it though. Helga couldn't think. She couldn't remember how. It was as if her brain had been powered off.

She could hear a deafening ringing sound in her ears as she watched Arnold's lips move, no sound coming from them. _Why are you such a horrible person? _The words repeated themselves over and over in her mind. She felt cold all of a sudden. Helga finally peeled her eyes away from Arnold and wrapped her arms around herself, willing the goose bumps on her arms to go down.

Helga pressed her lips into a thin line as she closed her eyes, pushing the tears back, and took a deep, shaky breath. She had nothing to say. There was nothing left to say. She rose slowly from her chair and walked out of the cafeteria and away from Arnold's horrified face.

_What just happened? _Arnold wondered. _Where did all of that come from? How could I have said that to her?_ There was absolutely no excuse for what he had done.

Arnold had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts he didn't even notice that the cafeteria had buzzed to life with awed and excited chattered at what they had just witnessed, nor had he noticed his best friend trying to talk to him. Arnold walked quietly out the door in a dazed stupor.

A few straggling students on their way to lunch took in Arnold's appearance and eyed him with curious amusement as he stumbled passed them. He paid no attention to them as he scanned the hallways frantically searching for a signature color of blonde hair. He wouldn't find it though.

Helga stood silently at the bus stop. She had had enough of school for the day and had no desire to see Arnold at the moment.

She shivered again. In a strange way she felt like she deserved to be cold. She had just turned Arnold into something he wasn't, something awful. She had pushed him over the edge and now she should be allowed to suffer for what she had done to him, what she had turned him into.

The bus finally arrived. Helga paid her fare, made her way to the very back of the bus and leaned her head against the cold window pane. She felt the bus jerk forward as the driver put it into gear. Helga stared absent-mindedly as they began to move away from the school when a certain blonde boy caught her eye.

Arnold emerged from the front doors looking panicked. He looked around, frantically searching for something.

"Helga!" His muffled voice caught Helga's ears through the window. He looked around once more before his shoulders slumped forward and he went back inside.

The bus pulled away and Helga closed her eyes tightly as the image of Arnold's angry face flooded her mind. _Why are you such a horrible person?_

Helga smiled weakly to herself as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her face against them, letting her hair cover her face as she finally allowed the warm, salty tears that had been hidden behind her eyelashes to soak into her jeans.

Arnold returned to school defeated. Phoebe and Gerald running up to him.

"Did you find her?" Gerald asked quickly as he gasped for air. Arnold merely shook his head, eyes glued to the floor.

"She's not answering her cell phone and she wasn't in either of the girl's bathrooms." Phoebe said sadly with a sigh.

Arnold leaned up against the lockers behind him and slid to the floor, resting one of his arms on his knee while the other steadied him."Why?" He muttered to himself. "How could I say that to her?" He said looking up between his friends with pleading eyes.

"You just got mad." Gerald offered. "This stuff happens."

Arnold glanced at Phoebe. She tried to smile reassuringly, but it came off as a small grimace. Arnold sighed and let his head roll back and hit the locker with a light thud. "How could I have said that to her?" He repeated.

"Arnold, you can't beat yourself up over this." Gerald said kneeling next to his distraught friend, "It's not that bad."

"No." Arnold said suddenly, his eyes locking with Gerald's. "No, Gerald. You're wrong. You should have seen the way she looked at me. Her face..." His voice trailed off as he swallowed hard, fighting off tears threatening to show themselves.

_Oh god, her face._ He thought, a jolt of pain cramping the place where his heart would have been had it not still been in his stomach. That look on her face tormented him. No matter how many times he tried to shake the image away it merely returned to the front of his mind along with a full reenactment of what he had said. _Why are you such a horrible person?_

Arnold gasped audibly at the pain that shook him yet again. It was him. _He_ was the horrible person. He just couldn't let it go. He had to keep pushing Helga to her limit. He just had to keep pushing what she didn't want back in front of her. And what did he expect?

He had known Helga since they were three years old. He knew she was a proud girl and she had said herself that she wasn't interested in his help. He had seen her at her most angry, most frustrated, most stubborn, but he had never, not once in his entire life, seen that shocked and broken expression on her face that he had just bore witness to. That look of complete pain. Of devastating heartbreak. That look would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Gerald and Phoebe looked at each other for a moment. Without a word Phoebe knelt down and placed a gentle hand on Arnold's shoulder. "Arnold?" She said gently.

Arnold looked up at her. His eyes practically pleading with her to fix what had just happened. To remove the pain he was feeling. Phoebe swallowed hard, suddenly filled with an overwhelming pressure to reassure Arnold that things would be ok, that Helga would be fine.

She opened her mouth to speak, but when nothing came out she simply closed it and looked away awkwardly. She didn't know what to say. She knew how hurt Helga must be feeling, especially since what was said came from the person she loved more than anyone else on the face of the Earth. The one person she had spent the last fourteen years of her life loving and longing for his love in return.

Phoebe finally released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She had nothing to say. She frowned at the tears poking at the corners of her eyes and simply pulled Arnold in for a hug. Gerald followed suit hugging Phoebe and Arnold as his football headed friend finally broke down and cried.

**Author's Note: Holy freakin emo, Batman! Super crazy chapter and it only gets more nuts from here, in both good and bad ways. Updates every Wednesday I've decided!  
**

**P.S. Stephen is my husband. I told him Helga beats him up. Ha ha! Poor guy. ;P**

**You can also stalk me on DeviantArt at nicolemtracy . deviantart .com**


	4. Chapter 4

The weekend had been painfully long. Arnold kept being visited by the horrible memory of his fight with Helga and hadn't really been able to sleep well since. His words kept echoing in his mind. _Why are you such a horrible person?_

At one point on Sunday, Arnold was going absolutely mad and decided to call Helga's home number again. Someone answered the phone for the first time since he had started calling on Friday evening.

"Yeah, what do you want?" The gruff voice of the Pataki patriarch, Big Bob himself, met Arnold's ears.

"Uh-Hi, Mr. Pataki. This is Arnold, Helga's friend. I was wondering if she was at home by chance."

There was a small pause on the other end before a very angry voice yelled through the phone loud enough that Arnold had to pull the phone away from his ear to avoid being deafened. "Listen Oswald, there is no one that lives here that goes by that name. Stop calling or I'll file a restraining order!"

The phone line went dead and Arnold stared at nothing in particular as he slowly snapped his flip phone shut and let it slide from his fingers and onto his bed. He sat quietly for a moment as he let the very short conversation replay through his mind.

Arnold had always had a vague idea of how the relationship between Helga and her parents was. It had always bothered him too. From the few times when Helga had confided in him somewhat he knew that her relationship with her parents was incredibly strained at best.

Not having his own parents be there for him had been really hard on Arnold, but he could not even fathom the idea of having parents, but not having any kind of positive relationship with him. All his other friends seemed to get along well with their families. Even the relationship between Gerald and Jamie-o had improved after Jamie-o had moved out and started going to college, but Helga didn't seem to have any worth-while relationship with any of her family members, not even her own sister.

Even with their non-existent relationship, Arnold couldn't help but be angry with Big Bob Pataki. What kind of parent would disown their own child? _There is no one that lives here that goes by that name._ Bob's dig at Helga had not escaped his notice.

A sudden knock at his bedroom door shook Arnold out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Short Man. Can I come in?" A muffled voice asked from behind the wood barrier.

"Yeah, sure, Grandpa." Arnold replied running his hand through his hair in an attempt to collect his thoughts.

The bed shifted slightly as Phil sat down and Arnold stayed quiet for a moment before turning to face his elder.

"Grandpa, I have a problem."

"Oh," Phil cooed in a sing-song voice as he rubbed his chin, "Another one of your boyhood problems, eh?"

"Yeah." Arnold said sadly.

"Does this have anything to do with your little girlfriend with the pink bow and bad attitude?"

"Helga." Arnold offered, " and yes." Arnold looked down a t his hands before continuing. "Well, at lunch on Friday she seemed upset about something and I tried to give her my food since she mixed hers up and-"

"And let me guess." Phil interjected knowingly, "You got into a fight about you wanting to help, her not wanting your help and you ended up with a tray full of that questionable food they feed you kids in your lap."

Arnold nodded, "But that wasn't the worst of it."

"Oh?" Phil encouraged with his bushy eyebrows raised high.

"I kind of said something really mean to her. Something I shouldn't have." Arnold glanced at his grandfather out of the corner of his eye. "I told her...she was a h-horrible person." He finished.

"Jumping Jehosaphat, Short Man! Why would you do a thing like that?" Phil spat in surprise.

"I don't know!" Arnold replied as he dropped his crest-fallen face into his hands. "I just got so angry. She's been acting so strange all week long and it was driving me crazy and I guess I just...snapped."

Phil pondered over what Arnold had said for a moment before laying a gentle hand on Arnold's shoulder.

"Arnold?" Phil started pensively, "You said she had been acting strange all week. Did something happen to bring this change about?"

Arnold brought his face out of his hands a bit as he thought for a moment. "Well, she did say that her and her dad had fought on Monday."

Phil narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. As much as Phil himself disliked the Beeper King, it seemed like an unusual shift in demeanor for just a fight, as hard-headed and as big a blowhard as Bob Pataki could be. _Something's not quite right..._ Phil glanced at Arnold and noticing the serious and expectant look on his face, grandpa coughed to relieve the tension.

"Well, Short Man, I guess the only thing you can do is call her up and apologize."

"I've tried that grandpa, but her dad said no one by the name of Helga lived there."

Phil frowned for a split second before replacing it with a reassuring smile. "I guess you'll just have to do it on Monday then." Phil said with a final pat before standing to leave. He walked halfway out the door before stopping in his tracks and turning back to face Arnold. "Arnold?"

"Yeah, Grandpa?"

Phil looked at him for a moment before continuing. "Always do the right thing. Even if it's not the easy thing."

Arnold looked surprised at this bit of rather serious sounding wisdom coming from a man who 'never eat raspberries' was sound advice. However, Arnold simply smiled warmly. "I will, grandpa."

Monday morning finally arrived and Arnold rushed to school as soon as he could. He needed to find Helga and apologize. Arnold glanced around and seeing no sign of his target anywhere, he decided to ask Harold, Sid and Stinky who were standing nearby, quietly discussing something.

"Hey guys." Arnold greeted, approaching the trio.

"Ahoy there, Arnold." Stinky replied with a wave. "That's sailor talk." He added beaming at this tidbit of knowledge.

"Yeah, that's great, Stinky. Have you guys seen Helga?"

"Funny you should ask." Sid blurted, "Harold crashed into her just a few minutes ago."

"I thought I was going to die!" Harold said, a horrified look on his face.

"What happened?" Arnold inquired, seeing his friend's distress.

"It was horrible." Harold began, "I turned a corner and crashed right into her. I panicked. With how angry she had been all last week I was sure she was going to murder me right then and there!"

"So what happened?"

"Nothing." Harold replied in a dazed stupor.

"Nothing?" Arnold asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Sid explained, "She just stood up, threatened him and took off."

"It was the most peculiar thing too." Stinky added, thoughtfully scratching his head. "Her threat was nothing like it used to be. It was kind of...weak."

" Weak?" Arnold repeated in confusion. Weak was not a word he would use to describe Helga, or anything about her for that matter.

"I know it sounds crazy, but you should have seen her." Sid said, his face reflecting the same pensive look on Stinky's.

"Well, do you know where she went?"

"Yeah," Stinky answered, his face returning to normal, "she headed that-a-way."

Arnold thanked him and headed in the direction Stinky pointed. He picked up his pace hoping to catch up to Helga before the bell rang. The football headed teen finally caught sight of a familiar shade of blonde turning the corner. He sprinted after it, turned the corner tightly and crashed into the person standing on the other side of it, sending books and papers flying.

"I'm so sorry I-Helga!" Arnold gasped. Helga looked awful. Her messy, blonde hair was covering half of her surprised face. Normally she would have looked adorable looking up at him like that, but her face was pale, tired dark circles marked her eyes, and her bottom lip was slightly purple and had the distinct imprint of a split in it. "Oh my god! What happened?" Arnold demanded invading Helga's personal space and holding her face to get a better look at the damage. Helga flinched at his touch and pushed him away.

"Nothing happened, Arnoldo." Helga growled, though her annoyance seemed half-hearted. "I just got in a fight with some random thug Saturday night and he took a cheap shot. That's all."

Arnold looked her in the eyes before she turned away from him to collect her things. Arnold followed suit. "Sorry about that." Arnold said again, handing Helga her books.

"It's fine." she shrugged before turning on her heel to head to class.

"Helga, listen," Arnold said, matching her stride, "I am so sorry about what I said on Friday. I honestly didn't mean it. I was just angry. I'm sorry."

Helga stopped walking. Her face remained neutral and she said nothing.

"Helga?" Arnold whispered. "Please, say something..." Arnold stepped in front of her to see her face Helga began to turn away from him, when Arnold grabbed her shoulder to stop her. Her body jerked at the contact and Arnold immediately removed his hand.

"I-it's fine." Helga stuttered as she held her shoulder as if his touch had somehow burned her. "Forget about it."

"Helga, are you ok?" Arnold inquired, his face scrunched up in concern. He stepped closer and reached out to brush the hair out of her eyes. "Jesus!" Arnold gasped loudly, drawing attention from a few random students. Helga smacked his hand away and brushed her hair back down.

"I said I'm fine!" Helga snapped, "Drop it!" with that Helga shoved passed him and bolted down the hall.

Arnold stood starring after her in shock at what he had just seen. His feet moved on their own as he contemplated what had just happened, though he couldn't make any sense of it. His stomach was in knots. He had a bad feeling about this. He just didn't know what 'this' was exactly.

At lunch Gerald and Phoebe watched as Arnold played absent-mindedly with his food. He seemed confused and frustrated about something and just as he was about to demand an answer he heard a loud clatter.

"Hey, watch it!" Helga shouted at a sophomore who had bumped into her and had been knocked into a chair. The blonde, much to the astonishment of many, said nothing more and continued to the table where her friends sat. She hesitated for a moment before sitting down and digging into her lunch.

"Jesus, Helga! What happened to your face?" Gerald said with little tact. Phoebe just looked in horror at the bruise on both her lip and under her left eye.

"Got in a fight." Helga said trying to shrug it off, but gripped her shoulder as if the motion bothered her.

"That's it? Got in a fight? You look like you got your ass kicked!" Gerald scowled in a harsh whisper, trying to avoid unwanted attention.

"Wow. You sure know how to pick 'em, Pheebs." Helga growled with annoyance through a mouthful of food. Her voice, the others had noticed, had lost much of its bite from the previous week. Gerald and Phoebe exchange concerned glances as Arnold stared at Helga's face. Studying it carefully.

"Helga, perhaps you should go visit the nurse." Phoebe suggested hesitantly.

"No."

"But, Helga!" Phoebe contested before being cut off.

"I said no. I'm fine." Phoebe knew better than to push the matter and returned to her lunch.

By Tuesday, Helga seemed to have bounced back a little, but on Wednesday it was worse than ever.

Helga shuffled into class, her hair hiding her face as if trying to avoid being detected by the class. She quietly took her seat, pulled her hood over her head and laid her head on her arms folded on her desk.

She seemed to be in pain. _A stomach ache maybe?_ Arnold wondered as she clutched her left side with one hand. He narrowed his eyes. _No, that's not it...but what then?_

Lunch rolled around and Helga was the first at the table, though instead of eating she just sat quietly in her seat, pulling at a thread hanging from the hem of her hoodie. Arnold watched her for several minutes with a frown before Helga looked up, meeting his gaze. Her face turned into a scowl.

"Why don't you take a picture, Football Head, it'll last longer." Her voice cracked a little and she blush embarrassedly as she realized as much.

"Helga, do you have a stomach ache or something?" Arnold asked quietly.

"No, why?"

"Well," he replied, swallowing nervously, "you keep holding your side like it hurts."

Helga looked down and indeed her hand was clutching her side, again. She hastily removed it before standing with enough speed to topple her chair over. She grimaced slightly. "I have to go." She said before taking off as fast as her obvious pain would allow.

Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe followed after her. Arnold reached her first and grabbed her wrist to stop her. Helga gasped and curled her body slightly to brace herself, her free hand up to protect her face. Arnold immediately released her and stared down at his hand for a moment. He hadn't even grabbed her very hard.

Arnold looked back in time to see Helga relax and quickly pull her sleeve back down, but not before something caught Arnold's attention.

He grabbed Helga's hand and pulled her into a side hallway devoid of students for the time being. "Helga," He said grabbing her sleeve and pulling it up before Helga could react, "what is this?" Helga pulled her hand free and pulled her sleeve down again, but not before her friends got a good look at her wrist. Bruises.

"Just some bruises, Arnoldo. It's nothing."

"Helga! What happened!" Phoebe shrieked as she grabbed Helga and tried to move her sleeve again to get a better look.

"I said it's nothing." Helga growled though looking panicked, carefully stuffing her hands stubbornly into her pockets.

"It doesn't look like nothing." Gerald replied matter-of-factly. Helga glared at him.

"It's nothing because I say it's nothing."

"Helga," Arnold pleaded, "Let us help you, or at least go to the nurse. That looked serious."

"Helga, please!" Phoebe whined.

"No!" Helga screamed, her voice cracking slightly before sprinting as fast as she could away from the attention, but Arnold hot on her heels. "Leave me alone!" She shouted at him, heading for the far side of the school's near empty courtyard.

Helga suddenly stopped and doubled over as she clutched her side and inhaled sharply, making a hissing sound. Arnold put his arms around Helga's shoulders before she could get away again.

"Helga, what's wrong?" He asked, his brows pushed together in concern.

Arnold carefully sat down, pulling Helga with him. She scrunched up her nose before letting out a shaky breathe and rubbing her ribs.

Without thinking, Arnold reached for the bottom of Helga's hoodie and slowly began pulling it up. Helga placed her hands on Arnold's, but didn't have it in her to voice her protest. She and Arnold gazed at each other for a minute before she finally turned her head in defeat and lowering her hands.

Arnold took that as permission and gently tugged the sweater up a little. He gasped, tears stinging his eyes.

Beneath Helga's shirt lay a very large black and blue bruise, about the size of his open hand, covering a rather large section of her side. Arnold stared at this, a lump in his throat. His hand shook as he gingerly reached up to touch the heated, discolored flesh as if it was just a mirage and would go away if he did so.

Helga jumped at his touch, though for different reasons than before. Her face flushed at the contact, his warm fingers gently tracing down the length of the injury. She swallowed hard before daring to turn to look at her beloved.

She watched his face for a time as he studied the bruise then, finally, his eyes lifted to reach hers. He looked pained, as if he knew what she was feeling just now. Helga could swear she heard her heart break as she gazed back into his grief-stricken eyes. Her blush deepened and Arnold, finally realizing how close they were and how intimate this scene actually was glanced down long enough to readjust her shirt, his face bright red, before meeting her eyes again.

Helga gazed up at him, the heat in her face radiating. She was certain Arnold could hear her heart pounding against her chest. He was so close. Too close.

Arnold, feeling a little shy himself pulled back and clasped his hands together in his lap, staring intently at them.

"Helga." He breathed, the unsteadiness in his voice a mixture of more than just rage, though he tried his best to keep his other emotions in check, "how did this happen?"

Helga took a deep shaky breath before answering him, her voice barely above a whisper. "I can't tell you."

Arnold's mouth fell slack a little as he looked into Helga's eyes. She turned away from him, hiding the tears that threatened to fall. She exhaled suddenly, rose to her feet and hurried back inside the building, leaving Arnold on the grass alone.

**Author's Note: Whew! Holy Hannah! I almost wasn't able to upload a chapter today. My computer decided today would be a good day to be a piece of shit and not turn on. Luckily, my husband is a computer wiz and installed a new power supply for me. Thanks hunny!**  
**So, some crazy crap is happening. Tune in next Wednesday for Rhonda's party! Trust me, you will NOT want to miss it ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

Saturday- 5:22 PM

"Finally finished." Arnold sighed looking over the updated paper that now covered the kitchen in the Sunset Arms. He felt sticky and gross and was certain he still had paste in his hair. It had been hard to concentrate on the task at hand as all Arnold had been thinking about was Helga and the mysterious bruises that seemed to pop up on her randomly throughout the week.

He had tried to get Helga to open up to him a little more since Wednesday, but she had either shut him out by avoiding the topic entirely or told him it was none of his business and she had everything under control, which made Arnold worry even more.

_I'm going to start getting wrinkles from worrying so much._ He thought as he made his way to the shower. Arnold stopped to look at his hair in the mirror and frowned. _Yup, I still have paste in my hair._

Arnold stepped into the hot water, letting it wash away the paste, his sweat, and his worries, though the latter persisted despite his willing them to leave. He quickly washed his hair, not wanting to be late for Rhonda's party, wrapped a towel around his waist and hurried to his room to change.

A few minutes later Arnold emerged wearing a red dress shirt, a black tie, dark grey slacks, black shoes and of course, never without his blue cap atop his cornflower head.

"Well well, Tenderfoot! Don't you look like a straight shooter."

"Thanks, Grandma." Arnold said with a shy smile. "You don't think it's a little too much? It's for Rhonda's party and it's supposed to be a 'black tie event'..." he said, quoting Rhonda's words to the best of his memory.

Gertie tipped her cowgirl hat down a little. "Of course not. The rancher's daughter will be mighty impressed."

Arnold looked confused. "Rhonda and I are just friends, Grandma."

"I wasn't talking about her, cowboy." She replied with a smirk. Arnold blushed again. "Giddy-up, Pewter!" Gertie suddenly declared, "We've got to herd the cattle back home before dark! Yee-haw!" She shouted and laughed as she rode her invisible horse upstairs. "Watch out for coyotes, Tenderfoot!"

A loud car horn beckoned Arnold from outside. He opened the door to see Phoebe waving at him from the passenger seat of Gerald's dad's car. He waved back, checked to make sure he had his wallet and keys before shutting the door behind him and sliding into the back seat behind Phoebe.

"Let's get this party started, shall we?" Gerald announced before turning the radio up and pulling into traffic.

They arrived at Rhonda's estate in just a few minutes and stared in awe at the splendor of the mansion. It was decorated with twinkling lights, carefully maintained topiaries shaped like angels, and a large, intricately chiseled fountain.

"Why do I feel like her house is bigger than half the neighborhood." Arnold muttered in awe.

Gerald handed his keys to the parking attendant and started walking towards the door before answering. "Probably because it is."

Phoebe giggled behind her hand at the comment, but was silenced when some questionable language caught her ears.

"Hurry the fuck up, Pataki!"

Arnold turned to see Helga being pulled along by, who, he could only assume, was her boyfriend, Reggie, followed by two other guys and a girl. The whole group was dressed very similarly, black leather seemed to be their theme. Helga at least had attempted to make an effort to dress up by pairing her black leather sleeveless dress with black high heels, her pink bow tied around the left one, a pearl necklace with matching earrings, and an elegant up-do, whereas her companions looked like it was everyday apparel: Jeans, chains and boots.

Arnold felt a sharp jab from Gerald and, realizing he had been staring at one member of the group in particular, turned away, a shy blush creeping across his face.

"Arnold, darling!" Rhonda greeted enthusiastically, "You look positively suave!"

"Thanks, Rhonda." Arnold replied awkwardly as she air-kissed each of his cheeks. "You look great. Is that a new dress?"

"This old thing?" Rhonda said modeling her red, knee-length sleeveless halter dress, "Why yes, it is! Gucci, very expensive you know. Phoebe!"

Arnold took his leave as Rhonda gushed over Phoebe and Gerald. He was escorted to the party room, which looked a lot more like the inside of a night club, or at least from what he had seen in movies.

Loud music blared over the speakers near the stage where a girl named, DJ Cleopatra Ice stood scratching rhythmically at a couple of vinyl records. Bright, colored lights flashed and bounced around the room to the beat and a gentleman in a white dress shirt and black bowtie stood behind the counter of the full wet bar mixing drinks.

"Rhonda's parents must be out for the evening." Arnold muttered to no one in particular.

Arnold felt a little out of his element, especially since he didn't really listen to any of this hip-hop music. His relief at seeing Gerald and Phoebe enter the room was short lived when a slightly terrified looking Helga was pushed in by the tall, short-haired brunette guy that had been with her earlier.

"Wow, this chick sure knows how to throw a party!" He exclaimed as his sides were flanked by his friends.

"I've seen better." Scoffed the girl. Arnold raised a brow at her appearance. It seemed like there was very little of her flesh that hadn't been pierced or tattooed and half of her short pink hair was shaved on one side.

"Always the optimist are we, Kyle?" laughed a tall, gangly, mousey looking, guy, his black hair falling in his eyes.

"You know me so well, Scrappy."

"Yeah, yeah. The party's great. Can we go now?" Helga whined pulling on Reggie's arm. He simply pulled his arm from her grip.

"Now now, Helga. What kind of guest would I be if I left this early? We only just got here." He said in a mocking, condescending tone.

"Yeah," quipped the tall, burly looking bald guy, "Quit being a party pooper, Pataki." He bumped her arm as he pushed passed her, knocking her off her balance for a moment.

"Oo! Look!" Kyle squealed with girlish delight. "Booze! Let's go, Knuckles." The thick, muscular guy nodded and followed his crew leaving Helga looking panicked.

She mumbled to herself for a few minutes in a voice too quiet to be heard over the music before sitting down at one of the many couches placed throughout the room, head in her hands.

Arnold moved to sit by her when a drink appeared out of nowhere and was shoved into his hands.

"What is this?" Arnold asked looking at the fizzy contents suspiciously.

"It's called a French 75." Gerald announced, holding a dark brown drink full of ice in his hand. "And this is a Black Russian." He said taking a sip. "Ah, nectar of the gods."

"Is there alcohol in this?" Arnold inquired with a frown.

"Yeah, so?"

Arnold scowled. "We're not old enough to drink, Gerald." He stated trying to hand the tall glass back to his friend.

"Actually, Arnold," Phoebe interrupted, "In the state of Washington a minor can drink as long as he or she has the permission of his or her parents and adult supervision."

"We don't have the permission of our parents."

"Arnold," Gerald said, putting an arm around his oblong-headed friend's shoulders, pulling him close, "Let loose. Live a little!"

Arnold frowned, "I don't know, Gerald. I don't really feel like going to juvy if we get caught."

"Psh!" Gerald snorted, "You won't go to juvy. The worst you'd get is a slap on the wrist."

"I'd get arrested and have to wait for Grandma and Grandpa to bail me out." Arnold defended.

"Arnold, quit being a wet blanket. " Gerald let go of Arnold, grabbed Phoebe's free hand and sat on couch on the far side of the room. Arnold rolled his eyes, looked at the drink in his hand for a second before taking a small sip.

It was surprisingly good. He took another sip before heading towards Helga. Just as he was getting near her, Reggie appeared out of nowhere, plopped next to the blonde girl and shoved a drink in her hands.

Arnold made a quick 90 degree turn away to make it look like he had actually been heading for the dance floor instead.

Arnold wandered aimlessly before making his way to the buffet to make a plate for himself.

"Bonjour monsieur. My name is Jacques. Allow me to make you a platter, s'il vous plait."

Arnold shrugged. "Sure. Thanks."

"Ah yes, here we have the escargot and the Flamiche, very tasty, and a tarte tatin. Oh! you simply must try the cervelles braisees avec les oeufs brouilles!" He exclaimed scooping some meaty looking pink stuff onto his plate.

"Uh, what is that?" Arnold asked, afraid of the answer.

"It is cervelles braisees avec les oeufs brouilles, monsieur. Braised brains scrambled with eggs."

Arnold's face paled. "D-did you say brains?" He took a nervous step backwards. "You know, I just remembered, I already ate."

Arnold took off and Jacques glowered in his direction. "Psh! Americans..."

Arnold took a deep breath and wiped his pale face with his sleeve.

"Arnold?"

The blonde looked up upon hearing his name. The girl in front of him looked stunning in a sea green, sweetheart cut strapless gown. The skirt was covered in shimmering taffeta and the bodice bedazzled with an asymmetrical design curving over the top of one breast, down the middle and off to the other side. Her red hair had been curled in loose ringlets with the upper half pulled back with a clip and she wore simple, silver tear drops in each ear.

"You look pale. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied with an embarrassed smile after realizing he had been gawking at her. "Wow, you look great, Lila."

Lila smiled sweetly. "Gosh, thank you ever so much."

"Would you like to dance?" Arnold asked, noticing the change in music and holding his arm out to her.

"I'm ever so certain I'd just love to, Arnold." She replied demurely, accepting Arnold's arm and following him onto the dance floor.

Helga sat uncomfortably as Reggie gulped down his fourth (fifth?) Old Fashioned and leaned up against the arm of the couch.

She had barely touched her own drink and she could tell that Reggie was starting to teeter passed the edge of tipsy. That was a dangerous place for him to be.

"Reggie, can we go now?" Helga pleaded, "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Shut up." Reggie struggled to focus his glare on her for a moment before rising to his feet and heading back to the bar. She sighed miserably as she watched him walk over and start flirting with Ruth McDougal, who seemed more interested in herself than him.

"God I hate this." Helga murmured bitterly, taking another gulp of her cocktail and staring into the remnants of the ice and amber liquid. "I really didn't want to come here."

"I'm glad you did though."

Helga jumped. "Jesus, Football Head, don't scare me like that." She scolded. Arnold smiled sheepishly and sat down next to her.

"Your boyfriend seems..." Arnold paused for a second trying to find a compliment, anything, but he just couldn't seem to think of a single thing. "to like leather." He finished awkwardly.

Helga laughed heartily and Arnold blushed. He had just realized it had been a long time since he'd heard her laugh. It felt good.

"Yeah, I guess." She said wiping away a tear from laughing so hard.

Arnold smiled. "You look beautiful, Helga." Helga stopped laughing. A deep blush spread across her face and she prayed the lights were dim enough to hide it.

"You don't have to be nice, Arnoldo. I know I look ridiculous." She said furrowing her eye brows together.

"No, you don't." Arnold insisted. "You look amazing." Helga smiled bashfully.

"Well, hey, you clean up pretty nice yourself, Football Head." She replied punching him playfully on the arm.

Arnold rubbed the spot she had hit. It had actually hurt, not that he'd ever admit as much.

_I catch myself staring at your face when you're not awake  
I just can't help it, no, no_

"Do you...want to dance?" Arnold asked shyly reaching out his hand for hers. Helga stared at it for a minute before a shy smile formed on her lips.

"Ok."

_Just having you here lying next to me  
It's the little things that cause a storm inside of me_

Arnold lead Helga to the dance floor. He gently took her in his arms and she responded by placing one hand on his shoulder and the other in his waiting hand. She swallowed nervously. Arnold blushed, pulled her closer to him and started to move with the rhythm.

_And every time you're close I shiver, shiver, shiver  
Every time we kiss I shiver, shiver, shiver  
I gotta catch my breath  
(Breath)  
So caught up that I forget  
(Forget)  
Every time you're close I shiver, shiver, shiver_

_This song is far too close to home._ Helga thought to herself as she felt a shiver run up her spine at the warmth from Arnold's hand.

_Your hand in my hand, skin upon my skin over and again  
I can't get enough, no, no, no  
The way you give yourself to me I just can't believe  
Sending chills all up and down my spine  
I want you to know, I want you to know_

The chorus started again and Arnold felt his mouth go dry as he locked eyes with Helga. _How can she affect me so much? Last week she was driving me insane, but now all I want is to see her smile. To see her happy._

Before he could stop himself, he reached up to brush a stray hair out of her face, caressing her cheek as he did so.

Helga gasped quietly at the sudden contact. She wanted so much to move away from him and regain control of her senses. Her mind was screaming at her to get a grip, but her body refused to move. Her skin tingled wildly at the brief contact from his fingers.

Arnold swallowed hard. Helga was gazing up at him in a way he had never seen before and he just couldn't look away. Those eyes were killing him. He felt his hand move towards her again, as if on its own accord. He touched the side of her face with the backs of his finger tips, caressing her again, this time, on purpose.

Helga felt her face get hot and her head light. She slowly reached up, taking Arnold's hand in hers, and held it gently to her face.

Arnold's blushed deepened further. He used his free hand to cup Helga's face and he could feel himself leaning into her.

Helga's lips parted as Arnold inched towards her. She felt her heart catch in her throat and a loud throbbing in her ears. He was so close now. She could feel his warm breath on her lips. She closed her eyes expectantly.

A loud shriek pulled the blondes out of their trance-like state.

"Oh my god!" Rhonda gasped. "My parent's 1995 Domaine Ramonet Montrachet Grand Cru!"

_Oh god, what did I almost do?_ Arnold scolded himself. _She has a boyfriend!_

_Wha-what just happened?_ Helga shivered again. _Was he-were we about to..._

Arnold and Helga exchanged embarrassed glances before making their way to the front of the crowd that had gathered near the buffet.

Reggie and his friends held in each of their hands a bottle of wine, all of which were open and half empty.

Rhonda looked pale. "This wine is twelve hundred dollars a bottle!" Her voice cracked with rage as she spoke. "Where did you even find it?"

"In the wine cellar." Reggie slurred. "Where else?"

Rhonda looked very much like a fish as she moved her mouth, willing words to come out. "Are you crazy!? You are chugging nearly ten thousand dollars worth of wine like some cheap domestic beer!"

"Excellent year."Kyle said in a mocking, low, snooty voice before cracking up. Her friends joined in. Rhonda fumed.

"Ok, that's it! You need to leave. Now!"

"Keep your pants on, princess." Scrappy growled before taking another swig. "We were just on our way to the door."

"Helga!" Reggie shouted. "We're leaving, let's go."

Helga flinched at the sound of her name. "Fuck." She cursed. Arnold looked at her, she seemed terrified to move. He could feel her hand start shaking and go clammy in his. He caught her eye.

"You don't have to go." He mouthed, squeezing her hand reassuringly. Helga smiled.

"Helga!" Reggie yelled again, this time louder. "Get the fuck over here!"

Helga's face fell, she pulled her hand away and stared at the floor. "I have to go." She breathed just loud enough for Arnold to hear.

Helga could feel all eyes on her as she meekly stepped forward, holding her hands to her chest to try and keep them from shaking . The group was escorted out of the room and to the front door by a couple of tough looking bouncers, just in case they tried anything.

Arnold watched as Helga was berated and cussed out by her 'boyfriend'. She turned to look back over her shoulder and caught Arnold's gaze. He had never seen her look so terrified.

**Author's Note: Song: First, the song is Shiver by Shawn Desman. I pretty much listened to it on repeat for majority of this chapter. I'm a weird one.  
Also, I received a review from one of my more sensitive readers. This person was a bit upset about the subject matter of this story. I PM'd them, but I'd also like to address the matter here as well. This is a more mature and sensitive story for a lot of reasons. As most of you have already guessed, Helga is being abused. Part of the reason I included abuse as a main part of the story arc was to shed light on it. It tends to be something that gets swept under the rug or glamorized by the media, but it's not something that either should happen to. Abuse of any kind is serious and can leave lasting effects on the recipient that can affect them their entire lives. It's not pretty, it's not glamorous and it's most certainly not something that should ever be downplayed.  
The other reason I'm using more mature content in this particular story is because I want to story to be believable and leave a lasting impact on my readers. After the final chapter of Tattered Ribbon I'm hoping my readers will walk away going, "Wow" and give them something to think about for a long time afterwards. I also would like people who are able to relate to Helga's predicament to feel like they are not alone. You obviously don't have to be physically abused to relate in any way, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse are just as, and probably the latter more so, devastating to the individual. How do I know? 3 words: Abusive asshole ex-boyfriend.  
The point I'm trying to make here is yes, what's happening to Helga is ugly and yes no one should have to go through it, but people do all the time all over the world and it's an insult to the survivors to downplay what they went through. I'm shedding light on this for them and also for you. Yes, you! The person reading this sentence. I am making abuse known to you personally, because I don't want this to happen to you. I don't want you to get hurt and to feel the shame and pain that comes with abuse. Because I love you. A tad sappy, but true.  
Anywho, long note. I apologize for that and I hope to see you all on the next chapter. Remember, updates every Wednesday!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Arnold lazily opened his mitt, easily catching the baseball Gerald threw to him. He held onto it for a second before tossing it back from whence it came.

_When did everything become so complicated?_ Arnold wondered as he reached up to catch the ball that Gerald had thrown just a little too high. Arnold had hardly slept a wink. The entirety of last night had been replaying itself nonstop in his mind, tormenting him.

The trio had left the party shortly after Helga. For some reason, the scene had left them feeling not much like partying anymore. Arnold was angry, bitter, confused and... a little disappointed.

Helga had looked so surreal. It was strange seeing her become so submissive as they danced together. She was so warm, a small smile on her lips, her eyes glittering from the refracted light of the disco ball, her skin was so warm... Arnold blushed as his mind replayed his body acting without his brain being in control of it. The second he had touched her he no longer had control of himself.

His hand reaching for her cheek. The feel of Helga's fingers holding his against her. The rush he felt as he cupped her face, leaning into her. Her lips parting...

Arnold was brought out of his thoughts by a baseball to the head.

"Ow!" He grumbled, rubbing the slightly tender spot. It actually hadn't hurt that much since it had been a soft toss, but that didn't stop the whine from escaping from his lips.

"What's eating you, man?" Gerald inquired with a huff, hands on his hips. "You've been out of it all day. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Arnold replied scooping the ball up and tossing it back at his friend.

Gerald snorted. "Don't tell me 'nothing'. It's never 'nothing', it's always something."

"I... I don't know." Arnold admitted, catching the ball again. "I guess I'm still bugged by what happened at Rhonda's last night." A low rumble of thunder from the dark, billowing clouds moving in echoed his thoughts on the subject.

Gerald shook his head. "Mm mm mm! I've never seen Rhonda that humiliated before. Always the perfect hostess. She's never lost her cool like that."

"Did you see the look on Helga's face though?"

Gerald frowned. "Actually, no. Why?"

Arnold tossed the ball back before answering. "She looked so uncomfortable around Reggie. Not shy, but more like... she was scared of him."

Gerald sighed. "Look, Arnold. I know you want to help and I feel for you man, I really do, but I think this is one time where you just can't. Helga has made it pretty clear she's not interested in anybody's help and we don't even know what's going on."

Arnold pulled his lips together in a thin, contemplative line. Gerald was right. Unless Helga said something to him, told him what was going on, there really was nothing he could do. He hated seeing Helga so uncharacteristically scared, he hated seeing those bruises on her beautiful face and he hated feeling so helpless about it all.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Arnold finally replied.

"Get back here, you bitch!"

Arnold whipped his head around in the direction of the noise. He could hear the sound of high heels clacking rapidly on the pavement before a certain blonde came into view.

Helga ran as fast as she could passed Gerald Field, but only managed to make it half way across before the sound of one of her stilettos breaking sent her tumbling to the ground, sliding a little on the concrete.

"Helga!" Arnold gasped in shock.

Helga pushed herself up on her hands to see her addressor. "Arnold!" Her face flushed in embarrassment and tears poked at her eyes from her sudden trip. Her hair was a disaster as the wind picked it up and whipped it in her face, mascara tracks stained her pinked cheeks and dark circles lined her eyes. She wore the same dress from last night, but one of the straps had snapped from the sudden pressure applied on it from the fall. Her knees, palms and arms were scraped and bleeding, staining the sidewalk and her lips quivered as she willed the tears to go away.

Before Arnold could move to help her, a young man in a leather jacket gruffly pulled her to her feet by her upper arms.

"Reggie!" Helga gasped. She clung tightly to the broken strap to avoid exposing any more flesh.

"What did I say would happen if you ever tried to leave?" He shouted before he swung his arm across his chest, his knuckles connecting with Helga's cheek and snapping her head to the head to the side as she let out a muffled cry of pain.

"Hey!" Arnold hissed as he dropped his glove on the ground and stormed over to where Helga and Reggie stood. "Get your filthy hands off of her!"

Reggie rolled his eyes lazily to meet the young man addressing him. "Look, bud, this is between me and my girlfriend. Fuck off!"

"Arnold. Don't." Helga pleaded quietly, her eyes full of fear.

Arnolds face softened slightly as her voice reached his ears. He looked at her and held his hand out to her. "Helga, you don't have to put up with this. You deserve better. Come with me."

Helga studied his hand for a moment before she met his eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"She's not going anywhere." Reggie growled angrily. "Who the hell do you think you are anyway?" Reggie shoved Helga to the side to face Arnold. Unable to catch herself with a broken high heel, Helga toppled to the ground, her knees breaking her fall.

Gerald rushed to her side. "You ok?"

Helga didn't respond. She watched nervously as Reggie pushed Arnold away from him and Arnold shoved back.

"What?" Arnold's fists shook with rage, "You won't hit me, but you wouldn't think twice about hitting a lady?"

"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" Reggie sneered, shoving Arnold further onto the grass. Arnold stumbled a little, but quickly regained his footing.

Arnold smiled darkly. "You're not a man. You're nothing but a scared little boy. No, not even that." Arnold continued, "You're just a little bitch!"

Without warning, Reggie's fist swung across Arnold's jaw, knocking him backwards onto the ground. "Who's the bitch now?"

Arnold chuckled as he wiped the blood from his chin. "I was really hoping you'd do that." He snarled.

Gerald and Helga watched in horror as the two men threw punches at each other, Reggie landing far more than Arnold.

"Stop it!" Helga shrieked. "Reggie, stop it!"

Arnold threw an uppercut into Reggie's jaw knocking him backwards a little. The brunette wiped his mouth and reached his hand into his pocket.

Helga gasped in terror. "Arnold! Look out! He has a-"

"Knife..." Arnold gasped under his breath as Reggie flipped his butterfly blade around to release the blade. Arnold swallowed and at the speed of the lightning that lit up the sky, Reggie lunged towards Arnold's face.

"Reggie! No!" Helga screamed, thunder drowning out her voice.

Arnold dodged the attack and was surprised by another subsequent lunge for his face. Reggie was fast and it took all of Arnold's concentration to keep his focus on the blade, thereby, keeping it away from his face.

"Reggie stop!" Helga pleaded.

Arnold was momentarily distracted by Helga's voice, but snapped back to his senses when Reggie reached out for him again, clipping his cheek with the tip of his knife.

Arnold reached up to touch the wound, but didn't have to time let it sink in as Reggie began swinging wildly, fury overpowering his skill, making him a little more sloppy, and that much more dangerous.

Arnold started to panic a little as he leaped backwards to avoid a swing at his stomach. _He_ needed to end this quickly or else Reggie would. He racked his brain frantically trying to come up with some way to disarm Reggie and avoid getting sliced open or stabbed in the process.

_When you can snatch the fly out of my hand, your training will be complete._ Arnold's eyes widened at both the memory and at the rush of air gliding across his face at another swing from Reggie. _Be as the frog in the pond. He does not seek the fly, the fly comes to him._ His grandma's voice echoed in his mind. It had been a long time since his self defense lessons with his grandmother in fourth grade and he hadn't done much with them since.

_Assume a state of relaxed alertness. _Arnold took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind.

_Be as the frog in the pond. _He repeated, watching Reggie's moves carefully. He took another deep breath as Reggie's muscles seemed to coil tightly like a spring waiting to be released. The sound of his heart beat and the blood coursing through him was the only thing Arnold could hear as Reggie's arm sprung forward, heading right between Arnold's eyes.

Arnold watched for a moment, his heart racing faster, pumping adrenaline through his body. The sharp tip of the knife came closer and closer to his face. Arnold stood perfectly still. _The fly comes to him. _At the last second Arnold weaved his head to the side.

He watched for a moment as the blade whizzed past his head and, with unfathomable speed, Arnold reached up, grabbed Reggie's hand with both of his and twisted hard. A sickening snap reached the ears of all present before the knife fell slack from Reggie's hand, sticking blade first into the grass.

Time seemed to stop entirely for a moment, engulfing them all in complete silence before Reggie's voice turned into gravel from his ear-splitting shriek. From the look on Reggie's face, Arnold knew it was mostly rage.

"Fuck!" He screeched angrily, cupping is distorted arm to his chest. "This isn't over, you bastard! Far from it!" Reggie took a few careful steps backwards. "I'll get you." He growled at Helga, his voice almost inhuman. "I will fucking get you and I will fucking kill you!"

Arnold blinked as a small rain drop hit his nose. When he opened his eyes again Reggie had vanished.

The heavens open up with a loud crack of thunder and the rain quickly began to soak through his clothes as Arnold jogged over to Helga, who still sat on the now wet concrete.

"Are you ok?" Arnold asked, sitting on his haunches and cupping her face to see the damage left by Reggie backhanding her. The mark on her face was quickly turning swollen and red.

Helga shivered as a chill swept through her, both from Arnold's touch and from the rain running down her dress, soaking her completely.

Arnold felt her shiver and quickly removed his plaid shirt, draping it over Helga's shoulders.

"You alright, man?" Gerald inquired, noting the cut on Arnold's cheek and his now swollen lip. Helga released her death grip on her broken dress strap to pull Arnold's shirt tighter around her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, man." Arnold smiled weakly before turning his attention back to Helga. "Can you stand up?"

Helga nodded and gripped Arnold's arms to pull herself to her feet. She suddenly cried out in pain and dropped towards the ground. Arnold caught her and held her partially upright as she desperately clung to him. Her movements had shifted the gravel that had embedded itself into her knees, reopening the clots that had formed, allowing blood to run freely down her legs, mixing with the torrents from the sky.

Arnold carefully scooped her up into his arms and Helga held his neck for support. "Come on." Arnold said gently, "I'll take you to the boarding house and we'll get you cleaned up, ok?" Helga just nodded not really seeing any other options available. "Coming, Gerald?" Arnold asked turning to see his best friend who had made his way to the center of the field.

"Not without this." He replied bending down to pluck the butterfly blade from the soggy grass. He studied it for a moment before carefully putting the blade away and slipping it into his pocket.

The trio made their way across the street to the boarding house. Gerald opened the door to let out a small horde of animals before stepping aside to let Arnold in.

"Grandma? Grandpa?" Arnold called out as Gerald closed the door behind them.

"Yes dea- Oh my goodness!" Gertie gasped as she took in the sight. She hurried over to her grandson and surveyed the damage to Helga's knees. Helga, embarrassed and in pain, hid her face in Arnold's chest. Arnold griped her tighter to him in an attempted to comfort her. "Phil!" Gertie hollered, "Get the first aid kit!" The teens heard some noise of agreement from the other room. "What happened?" Grandma asked, her face fraught with concern.

"It's kind of a long story." Gerald replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"Here's the kit, Pookie. I don't know why you insist on bandaging the pig all the- Holy mackerel! What happened, Short Man?" Phil frowned at the scene. Arnold just shook his head.

"It's not for me to tell, Grandpa."

"Well," Gertie said taking the kit from her husband, "Let's use the downstairs bathroom and get you two cleaned up."

Arnold looked confused for a moment before remembering that he was bleeding too. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, poking at the split he had found. "Ow."

The group followed Gertie downstairs to Grandpa's special bathroom, where they would less likely be interrupted by the borders.

Arnold gently sat down on the edge of the tub, Helga still clinging to him as if her life depended on it. She shifted a little so she was now sitting in his lap, but refused to let go of her death grip on Arnold's neck.

Phil went to get towels and Gerald leaned against a nearby wall, not really sure what to do.

Grandma poured some hot water into a bowl with a white rag and knelt in front of Arnold. She sighed sadly before pulling a paired of curved hemostats from the white, metal box and sanitizing them with rubbing alcohol.

Arnold looked at the over-sized tweezers in confusion for a moment before realization set in and he hugged Helga closer into him.

Gertie took hold of Helga's leg, feeling the girl flinch under her touch. She frowned and slowly moved the hemostats forward.

Helga gasped and jerked her leg away as pain shot through it. A firm, but gentle hand took hold of it once more and dug a piece of gravel out. Helga hissed, her nails digging into Arnold's shoulder.

Arnold held her head to him and stroked her hair, not daring to watch his grandma at work. He could feel Helga tense up in his arms again and finally she squeaked in pain as another bit of gravel fell, making a sharp click as it hit the tile.

Arnold could feel something warm soaking through his cold, wet shirt. He looked down, both seeing and feeling Helga shake against his chest. His eyes widened and tears pooled in his eyes. She was crying.

Arnold said nothing, but stroked her hair gently as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry, dear," Gertie said solemnly, picking at another rock, "but if the gravel doesn't come out, these will get infected."

Arnold felt Helga nod in understanding against his chest. "It's ok, Grandma." Arnold said interpreting the nod and stroking the blonde girl's hair again.

"Should I call Phoebe?" Gerald asked. "I know she'd want to know about this."

Another nod. "Yeah, you do that. Let Helga tell her about what's happened on her own terms though, ok?"

Gerald nodded and stepped out to call his girlfriend.

Gertie finally managed to get the last of the gravel out of Helga's knees and cleaned them both with a mixture of saline and peroxide before bandaging them.

Now that the worst was over Helga released her grip on Arnold and pulled back to have her arms and palms treated. She stopped short, however, when her eyes caught the blood stains on his shoulders.

"Oh." She whispered. Her voiced cracked a little as she spoke.

"Hm? What?" Arnold asked watching her intently.

"Your shirt..." She muttered quietly.

Arnold pulled his sleeve taut with one hand so he could see the shoulder of his shirt. "It's ok." He said releasing the fabric and turning back to face her. "No big deal."

Helga finally lifted her eyes up to catch his. Arnold smiled, a slight blush crossing his cheeks, making his eyes gleam.

Helga's eyes darted away shyly. Her eyebrows furrowed together when something else caught her eye. "Your cheek."

"Huh?" Arnold responded, slightly confused.

Helga reached up to touch the mark on his face causing Arnold to flinch. Helga immediately withdrew her hand. "Sorry."

Arnold gently brushed his finger tips against the sliced flesh. He had forgotten all about getting cut. It didn't really hurt very much, just something about Helga's fingers on his face surprised him. He felt his face heat up in a bright blush.

"No, it's fine. You just surprised me." He replied honestly.

"Got a few towels and here's some ice for your face, Helga." Grandpa announced handing a towel to Gerald who had just got off the phone and holding out the other two, along with a plastic bag of ice, to his grandson.  
"Thanks, Grandpa." Arnold responded with a smile. He took the towel off the top and immediately wrapped it around Helga's shoulders before placing the other one on the tub beside him.

"Phoebe says she'll be over as soon as she can." Gerald announced.

"That's an awfully long phone call for a such a small message." Arnold replied with a smirk.

Gerald chuckled. "Well, there was a lot more to it than that," He admitted, "but that's the gist of it."

"Eleanor dear," Gertie's voice got their attention, "I can't get at your other arm with you sitting on Arnold's lap like that."

Helga slowly shifted and sat on the tub next to Arnold in a quiet daze. It was as if her mind hadn't quite registered everything that had happened today and she was slowly attempting to process it.

Arnold suddenly felt cold from the loss of closeness with Helga. He shivered a little before grabbing the towel grandpa had given him and began to dry out his hair.

Luckily for Helga her knees were the worst of her injuries, her arms just looked bad. Before she knew it, the right arm was cleaned and bandaged . "All done, sweetie."

"Thank you." Helga mumbled quietly.

"Arnold, let me see your cheek."

Arnold obeyed and leaned forward so his grandma could examine the damage. "It doesn't look too bad." She said to herself cleaning it and applying a couple of butterfly bandages. Arnold smiled at the irony.

"Thanks, Grandma." Arnold stated when she was finished.

"You're welcome, dear. Now, why don't you all go hang out in Arnold's room while I make some hot tea?"

"Sounds great, Grandma. Thanks." Arnold rose to his feet and reached down to lift Helga from her spot on the tub. She winced as she slowly began to straighten her knees as best she could, using Arnold for support.

Arnold frowned as a almost inaudible whimper escaped her lips. He quickly stopped her ascent and scooped her into his arms. Helga blushed, but didn't protest. She once again wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly as he carried her up the two flights of stairs and finally up to his room before placing her gently on his bed.

Helga shivered and rubbed her arms, trying to warm them up. Without a moment's hesitation, Arnold went over to his closet and started rummaging around for a few minutes. He finally reemerged with a pair of plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt.

"Here," He said holding them out to Helga, "I know they're going to be way too big for you, but you really need to change into dry clothes."

Helga nodded, eyes glued to the floor, as she took the items from Arnold, who, along with Gerald, retreated to the short hallway outside his room.

As soon as Helga was decent she announced as much. The door opened and Helga caught a glimpse of blue before being wrapped in a tight hug.

"Helga!" Phoebe squeaked out. "I was so worried! Are you ok?" Phoebe pulled back to look over her friend. "Oh my god, your face!" Phoebe sputtered before reaching out to touch the bruised skin under Helga's left eye. "What happened?"

Helga turned her eyes away and swallowed hard before answering. "Reggie...hit me."

Phoebe's hands shot up to cover her mouth and she shook her head in disbelief.

"Arnold whooped his ass too." Gerald announced proudly, slapping Arnold on the back.

"What happened?" Phoebe repeated.

Helga waved her hand in Gerald's direction, not really in a talking mood. Gerald took Helga's permission and quickly filled Phoebe in on the events of that day. As he spoke, Arnold seemed to be lost in thought. Turning something over in his mind. As soon as Gerald stopped though, Arnold's eyes widened.

"The bruises."

"What?" Gerald asked, confused as to the sudden and seemingly random remark from his football headed friend.

"The bruises." Arnold repeated, staring at the space in front of him. He finally turned his head to look at Helga. "Today wasn't the first time Reggie hit you...was it?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Helga pulled her lips into a thin line and turned away from his questioning gaze. That was all the answer he needed.

"Helga, why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe asked, trying to catch her friend's eye, but to no avail.

"I...couldn't."

"He threatened you, didn't he?" Arnold remarked.

Helga simply nodded. "He'll make good on his threat too. He always does."

"What are you talking about?" Gerald asked, his brow raising in curiosity.

"He said he'd kill me." Helga answered quietly, raising her head to look at her friends. "I wasn't the first and I won't be the last."

Arnold's face went white. "He's killed before."

**Author's Note: Holy freaking shit yo! This chapter was sooo amazingly fun to do. What can I say, I'm just a sick twisted person. Thank you to all my followers and to those who take the time to review. It really means a lot and is totally the fuel to my creative fire! You guys rock! :) Remember, updates every Wednesday!**


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone sat quietly, sipping the ginger tea Gertie had brought up along with some sandwiches. The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. No one seemed to know what to say at this revelation. Reggie was dangerous, he had killed before and he had certainly shown he was capable of that with the way he fought.

Arnold glanced over at Helga, the bruise on her cheek slowly turning a deep shade of purple. The sight of it made his blood boil. _How dare he!_ Arnold growled inaudibly. _How dare he lay a hand on Helga!_ Somehow, someway, he'd pay for this.

"Arnold, are you alright?"

Phoebe's voice snapped the blonde boy out of his thoughts.

"Fine. Why?" Arnold replied, trying to conceal his rage.

"Well, you're spilling tea on the carpet."

Arnold looked down. His hands were shaking so hard tea was sputtering over the edge of his cup. Arnold put the porcelain down and dabbed at the wet spots with his napkin.

"Hey man, I'm going to head home." Gerald announced, rising from his seat on Arnold's couch. "I need a hot shower and a meal. Those sandwiches your grandma made taste like they have straw in them."

Arnold smiled. "That's probably because they do." He pulled a blade of straw out to emphasize his remark.

Gerald rolled his eyes, but returned the smile.

"I'd better go home too. I still have an essay on Private Barton W. Mitchell to finish before Monday." She turned to her best friend. "Are you going to be ok, Helga?"

Helga nodded. "Yeah, I'll be ok. I'll see you on Monday, Phoebs." She sounded tired.

Phoebe and Gerald made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them.

An awkward silence buzzed heavily through the room. Arnold turned to look at Helga, hoping to catch her eye. She, instead, absentmindedly swirled her tea around with her spoon.

"Fuck!" Helga cursed without warning, making Arnold jump, spilling tea on the floor again.

"What is it?" Arnold asked, already at her side on the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry. It's nothing. I-I'm fine." Helga said shakily while wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"Helga?" Arnold's face softened. He set down his cup again, before he did any more damage to the orange and yellow shag, and gently wrapped his arm around Helga's shoulders.

Helga jerked away from him and Arnold hesitantly pulled his arm back.

"Helga, what's wrong?"Arnold asked again. Helga whipped her head around to face him, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Everyone saw me." She whimpered.

"Saw you?" Arnold repeated. She wasn't making any sense.

"Everyone saw me bawling like a big, fat baby! Everyone saw me looking weak and pathetic and..." She wiped the tears from her eyes angrily. "God dammit!"

Arnold frowned and put his arm around her shoulders again. However, instead of pulling away, Helga lunged at him, knocking him back onto the bed, buried her face into the crook of his neck and sobbed.

Arnold lay frozen in shock for a second before wrapping his arms around the crying girl and rocking her side to side as he stroked her hair.

"Shhh..." He hushed her sweetly. "It's ok."

Helga only responded by crying harder. She was so unbelievably embarrassed. Embarrassed that Arnold had seen Reggie hit her, embarrassed that she had cried like an idiot, and embarrassed that she was still sobbing like a sniveling wimp, which only made her more embarrassed.

Arnold held Helga as she cried. He didn't know what else to do. He rubbed her back and his lips started moving on their own accord, a quiet song coming from them. "You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know, Dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away..."

Helga sniffed quietly before pulling back to look at him. "What was that?" She asked incredulously.

Arnold chuckled. "Sorry, I just didn't know what else to do."

Helga wrinkled her nose in mock disgust. "You're singing is terrible." She teased.

"Ouch." He teased back, hand over his heart. "That hurts."

Helga smacked him playfully on the chest before erupting into stifled giggles. Arnold laughed along with her. He loved the way she laughed.

"God, I'm such a basket case." Helga chuckled. "I feel like all I've been doing is crying like an idiot, or screaming at people."

Helga's laughter was cut off by a large yawn. She stretched a little, jerking suddenly when she stretched her arms a little too far.

"Ow." She grumbled, rubbing her left forearm in a soothing manner.

"Do you want me to take you home, Helga?" Arnold asked quietly. Helga froze and the color drained from her face. "You look pretty tired."

"No. I'm fine. I don't want to be more of a bother than I already am. I'll just catch the bus."

Arnold frowned. "It's no trouble, Helga. I'll just borrow the Packard and-"

"I said no!"

"Helga. It's not like you can walk."

"I can't go home! I don't have anywhere to go!"

Arnold opened his mouth to retaliate when what she said finally sunk in. "What are you talking about?"

Helga's lip quivered slightly, but she was determined not to cry. Not again. She had cried enough today as it was. God, she felt stupid. "I can't go home." She repeated a little slower.

"Is this about the fight you had with your dad?" Arnold asked curiously.

Helga nodded. "He kicked me out. Not that I care or anything." She quickly added the last part in a more defensive tone.

"So you were sleeping on the street!?" Arnold gasped. He pictured Helga wandering around in the snow (even though it was mid spring), shoeless and wearing nothing but rags, begging passing commuters for spare change. Her face pale and hallow from not eating.

"Of course not! I'm not stupid!" Helga retorted, bringing Arnold out of his reverie. "And even if I had been I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I was...staying with Reggie."

Everything suddenly made sense. Why her dad had said Helga didn't live there, the bruises, why she was late to class, and why Phoebe never knew where she was. Arnold's face paled. He suddenly felt a little dizzy from his epiphany. He held his elongated head in his hands as he tried to absorb everything he had just figured out.

"Look." Helga muttered, seeing his distressed reaction, "I'm sorry. I should have told you guys, but I didn't want anyone's help. I didn't want to be a bother to you guys and I didn't want your pity. I didn't want you guys to know."

"You should have told us." Arnold snarled, suddenly angry. "We're your friends, aren't we? You should have asked for our help, Helga."

Helga was taken aback for a second before growling. "Look. I said I was sorry. I didn't want your help and I still don't. I'm not interested in your charity, Arnoldo."

"Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?"

"Since when do you care?" Helga hissed, abruptly rising from the bed.

Now it was Arnold's turn to be throw off by Helga's comment. "What do you mean? I've always cared! When I saw you this afternoon I had never been more scared in my entire life!"

"Well, it's sweet justice or Karma or whatever, isn't it? I deserved everything that I got! I'm just weak and stupid and a horrible person, right?"

"No, but you're a fucking idiot!" Arnold's eyes widened slightly, surprised momentarily at his own language. "He could have killed you and you act like it's nothing!"

"I'm not acting!" Helga shouted. her pulse throbbing with adrenaline. "It is nothing! In fact, I wish he would have killed me!"

Arnold's mouth dropped open in shock. He couldn't get his brain to work and so Helga took advantage of his stunned silence to continue her rampage.

"You heard me! I wish he had killed me and do you know why? Because then, my parents would have their dream family with perfect Olga and have me, the mistake, the black mark, erased and I'd be just a horrible memory. Our 'friends' would finally be able to talk shit about me without having to walk on eggshells and you would finally have your personal hell disappear forever! I wish I had died!

Arnold suddenly leaped forward and grabbed hold of Helga's upper arms, shaking her fiercely. "If he had killed you I would have died!" His breathing was deep and ragged as if there wasn't enough oxygen in the world to quench his thirst.

Helga just stared at him. She watched as he attempted to compose himself by breathing heavily and staring into her eyes.

"If Reggie had killed you I would have died." Arnold said again, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I wouldn't know what to do or how to function anymore." He admitted quietly. "You may not think your family cares about you and may think our friends don't care about you, but Helga, don't you dare believe, for even one second, that I don't care about you." He slid his hands down her arms and held her hands together in his. "Because I do care about you, Helga." _More than you will ever know._

Arnold took a deep, cleansing breath and smiled warmly at Helga, who stood stunned at his remarks. After a moment she shyly returned the smile and gave his hands a gentle squeeze. She yawned again and pulled her hands away to cover it. Arnold frowned at the loss of contact.

"It's been a long day." Helga said quietly. "I should probably go." Helga turned and slowly hobbled to the door.

"Where will you go?" Arnold inquired. If she wasn't on good terms with her parents and now Reggie was out to get her, she really didn't have many options.

Helga's hand froze on the doorknob. Her shoulders dropped. "I... don't know." She admitted sorrowfully. "I guess I'll call Phoebe and crash at her place for the night."

Helga felt a warm hand wrap around her free one. She turned to see Arnold, a curious look on his face.

"You could sleep with me." He suggested.

Helga's face flushed beet red. "What!?"

Arnold blushed as well and pulled his hand back, suddenly realized what he had said. "No! That's not what I meant!" Arnold looked panicked. "I meant you could sleep in my bed."

Helga's eyes widened and her blush deepened even more.

"No!" Arnold stammered, "I mean you take the bed and I'll sleep on the couch!"

The two teens stared at each other for several seconds while Helga attempted to process his offer. She suddenly laughed. "Geez, Football Head, that's the most awkward way you could have said that."

Arnold rubbed his head embarrassedly. "Yeah, thanks, Helga."

"Thanks for the offer, Arnoldo, but I'll just call Phoebe. It's ok."

"Helga, you can't really move around very well and with Reggie still out there I'd really feel better if you stayed here where I-er, I mean, so Grandma can keep an eye on your wounds."

Helga had caught the Freudian slip easily and smiled inwardly at it. "Alright, alright. You win."

Arnold had been a complete gentleman about the whole thing, though he had to admit, even sleeping across the room from each other, having any girl sleeping in his room was kind of flustering, but with Helga it was like his brain was out to get him. Every single move she made his mind decided to misconstrue and somehow, even turning down the covers was a dirty thing that caused chills to shudder through him.

Helga nestled under the covers and, in just a few minutes, her heavy breathing told him she was in a deep sleep. He smiled to himself and pulled the blankets he had pulled out of the linen closet up to his chin.

Arnold shot one last glance in Helga's direction before closing his eyes and falling asleep to the soft pattering of rain against the skylight, a small smile on his face.

Helga bolted up with a start. Her breathing fast and shallow while her heart raced. She ran a shaky hand through her hair in an attempt to calm herself as she tried to figure out what it was that had woke her up in the first place. That was when she heard it. The distinct sound of the floorboards creaking under weight.

Her eyes squinted in the dark as she scanned the room. Her heart nearly jumped into her throat when she saw a dark figure standing near the bed, watching her. The hair on her arms stood on end and a chill ran through her.

"Arnold?" Helga squeaked anxiously. Her muscles tensing as she waited for a response.

Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly illuminating the room and Helga's heart dropped into her stomach.

"Guess again, bitch."

Reggie lunged at her. Helga tried to scream, but the noise choked and died as the brunette wrapped his hands around her throat and tightened his grip.

Helga struggled against her captor. Hot tears streamed down her face as she clawed in vain at his arms. Silently she begged Arnold to wake up, but his light snoring continued on undisturbed.

Reggie released her with one hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out his butterfly blade. Lightning flashed again, glinting menacingly off of the sharpened steel.

Helga managed a choking sound and Reggie smiled at her, his grin twisted and horrible.

"I told you I'd come back." He said. "I always do." Without another word he gripped the blade between both of his hands and plunged it into Helga's chest.

A loud, animalistic scream erupted from Helga's throat. Reggie pulled the bloody knife from her chest and stabbed her again.

Arnold was suddenly at her side. "Helga!" He shouted at her as Reggie stabbed her once more. Helga coughed and choked as blood filled her lungs. "Helga!" Arnold shouted again, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her roughly.

Helga's eyes shot open as she was jerked again. "Helga! Wake up!" Her wide blue eyes immediately found a pair of concerned green ones. Arnold reached out to brush the tears off her cheeks. "Are you ok?"

Helga sat for a moment, immobilized by fear, before throwing her arms around Arnold's waist and burying her head into his chest, bursting into a fit of sobs.

"I was so scared." She gasped between sobs. "It's Reggie. He was here and he-"

"Hey, shh." Arnold hushed quietly as he rocked Helga side to side. "It was just a nightmare. It's ok. I'm here. He can't hurt you. "

Helga nodded against him and her sobs finally quieted though she was still shaking, trying to rid herself of the flashbacks of her dream that plagued her.

"Are you ok."

Helga nodded again. "Yeah," her voice cracked a little as she spoke, "I'll be ok."

"Here, let me get you a glass of warm milk or something, ok?" Arnold stood to leave.

"No!" Helga panicked and threw her hands out, clinging to his shirt. "D-don't leave me!"

Arnold could swear he felt his heart breaking. The look of pure terror and desperation on Helga's face was like nothing he had ever seen before. Helga had always been strong and tough, yet here she was, slowly crumbling in front of him.

Arnold climbed onto the bed and laid down, pulling Helga down with him. He pulled the blankets over them before wrapping his arms protectively around her and drawing her into her chest.

Helga finally released her grip on Arnold's shirt and relaxed. She had never felt so safe in her life as she did at this moment, laying here in Arnold's embrace. She looked up to see him looking down at her. She was glad it was still dark. It made it impossible for anyone to see the deep blush that spread across her cheeks.

Arnold felt his heart leap and his face heat up once Helga's gaze met his. He never thought that his childhood bully would be in his room, in his bed and in his arms. The whole scene felt so surreal to him and yet, at the same time, perfectly natural, as if she was meant to be here with him.

"Helga," He began quietly, "I know you're strong and tough. And I know that Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers could give anyone a run for their money." He chuckled, "I know you said you don't want anyone's help..." He reached forward, brushing the hair out of Helga's face, caressing her face as he did so. Just like he had at Rhonda's party, he mused. He felt himself move towards her, he hesitated for a second before placing his forehead against hers. "But I want you to know that I will always be here to protect you. No matter what."

Helga felt her mouth curve into a smile at his words. Arnold adjusted his hold on her before closing his eyes. Helga watched him for a few minutes before his face finally softened completely and his even breathing told her he had fallen asleep. She watched him sleep for a bit. She reached up and gently ran a hand through his hair.

Arnold stirred slightly before becoming still again.

Helga smiled. Her tired eyes drifted closed and soon after the only sounds that could be heard were the soft snores from the bed and the pat of rain that enveloped the room in a comfortable numbness.

**Author's Note: **Whew! Thank goodness! Most of this chapter was pushed to the side for most of the week due to a horrible case of writer's block. Uhg! Luckily on Monday I awoke cured due to reading fanfictions and hanging out with my backyard chickens yesterday. (Yes I have chickens, no I'm not on a farm ;).)

Anywho, I wanted to address an interesting comment I received. One of my readers remarked that I had stereotyped the teens a bit in my story by having them drink at Rhonda's party.

Something that I should have clarified (and will most likely fix) is that not all of the teens drank at that party. I can't imagine that Lila, Sheena, Eugene and Phoebe would have. Lila's too much of a pure, goody-goody, Sheena strikes me as someone who would be against it and Eugene is enough of a klutz without being impaired. As far as Phoebe goes, yeah, she defended it with her random knowledge of the law, but I don't think she would have drank either.

Something I didn't do that would have been an even worse stereotype is making them drink to the point of being drunk and hungover, which I also didn't clarify and perhaps will when/if I tweak the chapter. The only twits who actually got drunk were Reggie and his friends who are old enough to drink.

To me it seemed right being that they were mixed drinks and cocktails as opposed to cheap beers and jello shots. It would also be a social thing and not an all the time deal and only if you're rich enough to bribe the staff. ;)

My generalizing of the teens drinking may have been a bit of a stereotype and may not have been fair to the teens of the world who aren't partiers. I sincerely hope I didn't offend anyone with my generalization and hope I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Lots of love,

Nicole


	8. Chapter 8

It was so quiet, so peaceful, so still. Arnold reluctantly opened his eyes against the dim light that filled his bedroom. The clouds, thankfully, kept most of the sun at bay allowing him to adjust to what little light managed to filter in. His eyes immediately fell upon Helga's peacefully sleeping face. Her breathing was soft and deep, her cheeks were pinked and imprinted with creases from the pillow, her hair was thoroughly disheveled and spread across the pillow in wild disarray, and a thin line of drool made its way down her face.

Arnold chuckled softly at the sight. Even in all her pre-morning-routine splendor she was still completely adorable. He removed his arm from around her waist and brushed her tangled, frizzy hair out of her face. Helga stirred slightly before her eyes slowly fluttered open. Arnold held her gaze for a few minutes as her brain attempted to soak in the scene.

"Arnold!" Helga suddenly shrieked, without warning and began to flail wildly to create some distance. This only succeeded in further tangling both teens up in the sheets, causing Helga to slide off the bed and Arnold, still tangled tightly, falling with her.

"Oof!" Helga squawked as Arnold landed directly on top of her. "Get off me, Football Head!" Helga growled with a flustered blush deepening on her face.

"I'm trying!" He wriggled against her, trying to pull away and free his legs.

Helga squirmed uncomfortably against him as her skin pulled slightly taut, bothering her bandaged skin. Arnold gasped suddenly at her movements and froze.

_Oh dear God, no! Not now!_

Helga caught the panicked look on Arnold's face and stared at him quizzically for a moment before feeling something shift against her thigh. _Oh God._

Her eyes widened and slowly she lifted them to meet Arnold's. She swallowed at his now dark eyes. His face paled beneath his blush. She noticed. _Shit._

Arnold stuttered incoherently for a moment before finally managing to create a sentence. "I'm s-so sorry! I-it's just-It's morning!" He choked out, thoroughly humiliated.

Both teens shifted frantically, trying to escape the awkward situation, but only succeeded in making it more awkward.

Helga suddenly gasped at the sensation of Arnold's morning wood against her upper thigh. Arnold froze once more, staring at the girl under him with a variety of different emotions and feelings etched onto his face. His eyes traveled to her lips, now pink and parted slightly , before back up to her eyes. He swallowed nervously before slowly lifting his trembling hand to her face, trailing it down her cheek before nestling behind her head. Helga's skin tingled at the contact and a shiver shook through her. Arnold slowly leaned forward, his movements were nervous and hesitant.

Helga reached up placing one hand softly on Arnold's cheek and the other on his neck, pulling him towards her.

The door swung open, slamming against the wall. "Hey, Shortman, your grandma made you and Helga some- cheese and crackers!" Phil yelped seeing the teens tangled up together on the floor.

"I-It's n-n-not what it looks like!" Arnold stammered. All the blood that had previously been in his pants was now in his face, making the entire football-shaped orb look like a bright red watermelon wedge.

Helga finally regained control of her senses and shoved Arnold off of her. Arnold yanked his leg free and rose to his feet.

"Geez, Shortman, the least you could do is lock the door if you're going to do that!" Phil teased.

"We weren't doing anything!" Arnold shouted.

"I know, relax, Shortman. I'm just giving you a hard time. Whew! I'm such a wiley old coot!" Grandpa chortled.

Arnold grumbled bitterly under his breath before reaching down to help Helga to her feet. She accepted his hand, but avoided eye contact by staring at the hem of the shirt she was wearing.

"As I was saying," Phil said after he had finished laughing, "Grandma made breakfast, hurry downstairs before that bum, Kokoshka eats it all."

"Yeah, we'll be right there." Arnold replied, taking note of Helga's silence.

Phil left the room and the teens stood unmoving in the awkward silence for a moment. Helga chanced a glance at Arnold out of the corner of her eye. Apparently Arnold had had the same idea and they caught the others eye at the same time. Embarrassed, they both quickly turned to look in the opposite direction.

"I uh, guess we'd better go eat." Arnold said quietly, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Yeah." Helga replied curtly, heading for the door.

"So," Ernie addressed the teens as he reached for a sausage link, "thought you'd get a quickie in before school, eh?"

Arnold flushed. "We weren't doing anything!"

"Arnold, we were all teenagers once." Mr. Hyunh chuckled at the boy's expense. Both Helga and Ernie howled with laughter.

"Helga!" Arnold growled embarrassedly.

"So, Helga. How is the kid? On a scale of one to ten." Ernie ribbed light-heartedly.

"Eh, maybe a seven." Helga replied, suppressing a giggle.

The borders all laughed.

"Wow, Shortman! You're a seven! Not too shabby for your first time." Phil cackled. Gertie swatted him on the head with her spatula. "Ow! Pookie!"

"Now Phil, don't go embarrassing Arnold and Eleanor." Arnold breathed a sigh of gratitude at his grandma's words. "There will be plenty of time for that at their wedding." Arnold choked on his orange juice. Helga laughed as Phil smacked his grandson's back as Arnold attempted to breathe.

"So, Helga," Suzie interjected, trying to free Arnold from Ernie and Mr. Hyunh's teasing, "How's your mother these days? I haven't had a chance to talk to her the last few months."

Helga shrugged. "Fine I guess. She still passes out in the middle of the day so, same old I suppose."

"Hey, you spent the night right?" Ernie asked curiously. "I thought Arnold said you have a boyfriend."

Helga froze.

"Yes, that's what I heard as well." Mr. Hyunh nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, unless you are cheating on him." Oscar chuckled before being swatted on the arm by Suzie.

Helga cleared her throat before answering, "Yeah, I did."

"Is he the punk that gave you that shiner?" Phil inquired.

Helga slowly reached up to touch her cheek. She hadn't had a chance to look in the mirror, but she was certain her cheek looked awful. "Yeah." She said quickly.

What's with the bandages?" Ernie asked eyeing her arms skeptically.

"Maybe she is a mummy." Oscar laughed before being swatted by his wife once more.

Helga unconsciously rubbed her arm and glanced over at Arnold with a look that seemed to ask, _what should I say?_

Arnold shrugged. "It's up to you." He whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

Helga nodded and opted to tell the truth. The borders listened with interest and curiosity as Helga explained how she came to stay with Reggie and all the events leading up to her staying the night, minus sharing a bed with Arnold, which Arnold was grateful to have kept under wraps. He could only imagine the teasing that would incur had she said anything.

"Helga, you should report that weasle!" Ernie hissed, his face contorted into an angry scowl.

"I agree." Suzie added. "No one should ever be treated like that. You need to tell the police."

Helga shook her head. "It wouldn't make any difference. His dad is on the police force. He brags all the time about crap he gets away with. Besides," Helga continued taking a drink of orange juice, "he has friends all over the city who can cover for him and hide him. Even if the police did go after him, they'd never find him."

"So you're just going to let him win?" Arnold asked, his voice quiet.

"What choice do I have?" Helga shrugged. "He has the gang and his family and friends to protect him and I've got nothing."

"That's not true!" Arnold countered loudly, startling half the room, "You have me."

"And us." Phil said holding Gertie's hand.

"And all of us, right guys?" Ernie added, receiving nods from around the table, Oscar's with a little encouragement from Suzie.

Helga was momentarily taken aback. This entire room full of people with no relation to her had her back when her own family didn't. Blood of the covenant really is thicker than the blood of the womb. She swallowed hard to keep her emotional rollercoaster in check.

"Thank you."

Arnold took a break from him usual jaunt to school by borrowing his grandfather's car after the elder insisted he didn't need it today, but threatened to kill him if he so much as scratched it. Arnold had laughed at the comment, but still wasn't 100% certain whether or not Phil had been joking.

Arnold parked and hurried to Helga's door to help her out. Her knees and arms throbbed painfully in protest to her insistence on coming to school today.

Helga clung to Arnold's arm for support as she steadied herself. The fresh scabbing on her knees tugged with each little movement as Helga, still clinging to Arnold, began to hobble through the parking lot.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Helga?" Arnold asked as she gingerly stepped up on the curb. "You could have just stayed at the boarding house today."

"Nope." Helga replied as she flipped some loose hair out of her face, "I really don't think I could have. For one, Bob, Miriam and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, so I wouldn't be able to be signed out of school; and secondly, you'd insist on staying with me and I can't have you squandering your education, now can I?"

Arnold chuckled light-heartedly. She knew him so well. Before he had a chance to reply, a shriek caught his ears.

"Helga! Oh my God! What happened!?" Helga stumbled backwards a little as Nadine, Lila and Rhonda swarmed her unexpectedly.

"Huh?" Helga sputtered as the trio leaned towards to her look her over.

"You look positively ghastly!" Rhonda squeaked, horrified.

"What happened?" Nadine asked, her mouth pulled into a frown.

Lila looked Helga over for a moment before sudden realization dawned on her and her face paled.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Stinky asked curiously as he, Harold and Sid approached the group.

"Boy howdy, Helga! You look terrible!"

"Yeah. Thanks." Helga grumbled. She hated all this attention and wanted nothing more than to find a nice rock to crawl under.

"Hey guys!" Sheena greeted as she and Eugene approached.

"What's going on?" Eugene inquired before his scan of his friends found Helga's bruised face and bandaged arms. "Oh my goodness! What happened?"

Helga suddenly felt hot as all eyes turned on her. She cast her blue eyes to the ground. "Reggie happened." She revealed.

"You mean that asshole you're dating?" Harold spat vehemently.

Helga frowned curiously at him. "Was dating. Yeah."

"I knew he'd do something like this." Sheena suddenly declared angrily.

"You... you did?" Helga replied, surprised at this revelation.

"Yeah, he just has this... dark cloud around him. I get a funny feeling when he's in the room." Sheena answered, her voice thoughtful.

"I knew the kind of person he was the moment he walked into my house." Rhonda declared, flipping her hair airily behind her.

Nadine nodded in agreement. "They say it only takes thirty seconds when you first meet someone to determine whether you'll like them or not."

Helga winced as she shifted awkwardly. All the attention was making her extremely uncomfortable.

"Helga, would you like my doctor's number? She's really good. She'd probably be willing to check out your bandages for you." Eugene offered, his voice hopeful, but slightly reserved.

Helga stared at him in surprise for a moment before replying. "Uh, no. Thanks, Eugene. That's...really nice of you..."

The chatter around her stopped almost instantly as a huge grin split across Eugene's face.

"Did-did Helga Pataki just _thank_ someone?" Rhonda gasped.

"Wow, that was unexpected, but in a good way." Stinky stated in a daze.

Helga frowned. "Nice to know I'm such a bitch that a simple 'thank you' is newsworthy."

"It's not that it's newsworthy," Rhonda replied, "it's just that you're always like that."

Helga scowled, her fists clenching, digging her nails into her palms.

"Helga, I'm oh so certain that you're taking Rhonda's meaning out of context." Lila said quickly, noticing Helga's reaction.

"Am I?"

"I think what she means to say is that you're ever so independent so it's an oh so pleasant surprise when a compliment is given from you since you never need help from anyone. It makes it that much more special."

"It makes it more worth the earning." Sid added.

Helga's face softened. "Oh."

"What did you think I meant?" Rhonda asked curiously.

"I think she believed you were insinuating that she was a bitch, Rhonda." Phoebe answered quietly from the back of the crowd. She and Gerald had just arrived and noticing the congregation, decided to make their way over to investigate.

Rhonda paled and turned back to Helga. "Of course I'd never say you're a bitch!" She said quickly. "I mean yeah, sometimes you can be coarse and grumpy, not to mention violent and vulgar-"

"What Rhonda's saying," Gerald said loudly, cutting off Rhonda's barrage of thoughtlessness, "is that you're tough, but we're still your friends."

"Really?" Helga asked, eyeing Gerald in particular, as their relationship had always been the most strained, not that she could blame him.

"Of course, Helga. We care about you." Sheena stated.

"How?" Helga asked, genuinely surprised. "How can you still want to be my friend, especially after the past few weeks. I've treated you all like shit..."

"Helga," The voice startled the blonde. She turned to see Brainy standing beside her. How long had he been there? "Everyone is going to hurt you," he said quietly, taking a puff from his inhaler mid-sentence, "you just have to find the one's worth suffering for." Another puff. "You are worth suffering for. I should know." He smiled, his eyes lighting up with sincerity behind his thick glasses.

Helga blushed and gazed at her shoes for a moment before scanning her friends' faces, each of which echoed Brainy's expression. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering before reaching her hand down and quickly squeezing Brainy's. "Thank you."

"Group hug!"

**Author's Note: OMG! You guys, I am so so so sorry for the lack of updates the past couple of weeks. It wasn't even writer's block, it was creativity-in-general block. I couldn't even get any art out for my deviantart account. It was awful! Anyway, I'm back and I'm going to whip out as many chapters as I can while I have my second wind going to prevent these update-less weeks from happening again. See you all next Wednesday!**


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